Sometimes a new book keeps popping up on your radar and, after enough trusted reading buddies have given it the thumbs up, you get yourself a copy. Then there are the times when you read just a single review, and that review has a subliminal message that’s written just for you. It whispers “Read this now Kate”. And then I have to hurry to the bookshop. Which is what I did when I read Anna’s review of Sofie Laguna’s latest, The Eye of the Sheep.
The Eye of the Sheep begins –
“It was Saturday morning and I was doing the gardening with Mum. My dad was still asleep.
‘When will he wake up, Mum? Mum? When will Dad wake up’ I asked as she watered the fern, its tentacles bouncing under the pressure. If I stood close enough I could hear the same tentacles inside my mum, waving at the dust in her air ducts. ‘Has he had enough yet, Mum? Does he still need more rest?’
My dad worked at the Mobil refinery in Altona, getting rid of the rust. Rust came back every time it rained, but even if it left my dad raw, his skin corroded so you could see the fibres that joined him, he didn’t stop scraping. He learned at the Western Card Yard in Laverton. Mum said all the Flick brothers knew how to work.”
It’s a bit hard to resist that shaggy dog and that little boy’s earnest eyes, isn’t it?
Join in First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday over at Bibliophile by the Sea.
Kate. this leave me curious and am off to check it out –wondering if it is a memoir? enjoy and thanks for sharing.
It’s a good opener, Kate and the cover would make me pick it up from the bookshelf. I hope you enjoy reading it.
I’ve not heard of this book or the author, but the opening has me curious. Off to investigate…
This one is new to me, too. It sounds promising, so I’d continue reading.
My Tuesday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2014/08/first-chapter-first-paragraph-71-and.html
Oh, my, this one sounds like a wonderful character study that will definitely wrap itself around you…thanks for sharing. And for visiting my blog.
I love it when a book calls to me like that, enjoy your read it does sound good. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
This sounds like it would be good. I admit, I could see my daughter and I in that first characters, although maybe not out in the garden but doing something else. “When is dad going to wake up, Mama?” She asks me. 🙂
I think I’d have to know a bit more about the overall book before making a decision. Hope you enjoy it!
There’s an extract here if you want to read more! http://www.scribd.com/doc/234200287/Sofie-Laguna-The-Eye-of-the-Sheep-Extract
It says fiction in your tag so I am wrong in my initial thought that this was a coming of age memoir. I know all too well the insistence of little kids for their parents to hurry up and do something with them 🙂
I love the cover–how inviting. This sounds like something I would keep reading, so enjoy!
Agreed! I love that cover. And the intro does pique my interest.
That’s a great start. I’d read a few more pages before committing.
I like the cover picture as well. Especially as it is,in my opinion, not one of those ‘oh so sweet’ animal-child pictures but you can really see the connection here. Peggy @ The Pegster Reads