Back again! Time for me to review Book 16 – and guess what?!! another one that wasn’t on my original list! But it was Cosy Reading Night over the weekend and this one just spoke to me with its’ lovely gold cover and was around 200 pages so perfect for an evening of reading and scoffing of chocolate!!
‘Equal parts beauty and horror, and unlike anything you will read this year’ TEA OBREHT
‘Seethingly assured debut fuses magical realism with critical and feminist theory’ GUARDIAN
ABOUT THE BOOK
In house in a wood, Ada and her father live peacefully, tending to their garden and the wildlife in it. They are not human though. Ada was made by her father from the Ground, a unique patch of earth with birthing and healing properties. Though perhaps he didn’t get her quite right. They spend their days healing the local human folk – named Cures – who visit them, suspiciously, with their ailments.
When Ada embarks on a relationship with a local Cure named Samson, and is forced to choose between her old life with her father, and a new one with her human lover. Her decision will uproot the town – and the Ground itself – for ever.
A poised and simmering tour-de-force, FOLLOW ME TO GROUND is a sinister vision of desire and freewill, voiced in earthy prose and eviscerating detail by an astoundingly original new writer.
‘Fierce, palpable, hynoptic. A dazzling, troubling dream’ COLIN BARRETT
LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2019
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon UK £9.99
hive.co.uk £10.25
whsmith £9.35
MY REVIEW
I found this to be a dark, strange, absorbing and extremely enjoyable read! One of those books that didn’t always work for me, but the bits that did were so captivating that I just wanted to read on!
Ada and her father live in the woods and they aren’t human. But they’re ‘tolerated’ by the humans living nearby as they have gifts that means that they can cure sickness. It’s how they get by.
Ada was made from The Ground nearby, which is a patch of earth that has birthing and healing properties – it must also be respected as it can eat you up so you do wonder just what is the meaning of this ground – a double edged sword maybe?!
This book allows you to see the complexities of a father/daughter relationship along with how those seen as outsiders are seen within the community and there’s always a fear of them despite their help when needed.
Ada grows close to one of the ‘cures’ she is treating, and when she spends more time with Samson the dynamics change with her father – is he being over protective? Or is she being blinded by the overbearing personality of Samson.
WE also get to see little thoughts on the pair from the people they’ve cured – the rumours, their experiences and this was a really interesting little side story.
As Ada grows in confidence in her own abilities she starts to think more for herself and that doesn’t always lead to the best decisions, and with Samson’s own sister showing concerns you are always wondering just who to trust in their judgement of characters.
A really interesting and twisted little story and one that I raced through and hope to re-read in the future!
★★★★
Books and Me! 
Fab review!
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thank you!
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