★★☆☆☆ | Literary Fiction | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
A quirky book of short stories all centered around a young girl and her grandmother on a remote island in Finland. I chose this book to see if reading another’s take on island life might help me find my own voice on my experiences on Vashon. Mostly the stories seemed to center on the author’s childhood memories of her deceased grandmother. There were moments, but this one didn’t click with me.
Highlights
People who live on islands are always letting their eyes glide along the horizon. (location 829)
The strange boat slid closer and closer, with its motor throttled down and its lights reflecting in the water like dancing snakes of fire. (location 1144)
She started thinking about all the euphemisms for death, all the anxious taboos that had always fascinated her. It was too bad you could never have an intelligent discussion on the subject. People were either too young or too old, or else they didn’t have time. (location 1240)