Book Synopsis:
She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. ‘We’re going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.’
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor’s childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor’s mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor’s head.
Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.
My Review:
Blue Hour is an emotional, harrowing read which is very thought provoking. I was a big fan of this author’s first book and I liked that this book was so different but just as beautiful.
This story follows mother and daughter, Kitty and Eleanor, who are struggling with the choices they have made. I liked Eleanor and found her to be a sympathetic character who I felt I understood. I desperately wanted her to escape and find the safe place she wanted. I did struggle a bit with Kitty and found it hard to feel much empathy for her. The author does take time to explain her back story and why she acts like she does but her treatment of her daughter, despite all her own experiences, made her quite unlikeable. It was heartbreaking to see how she put her daughter down and seemed to blame her for everything that has gone wrong in her life.
Some difficult subjects are covered in this book which made the book quite harrowing to read at times. There are some very uncomfortably moments which were hard to read at times and I often found myself having to put the book down and go back to it. The tension in the book slowly increased as we follow Eleanor on her journey and I had to keep reading to find out what happens.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic book that was beautifully written. Despite breaking my heart frequently whilst reading I feel it’s a book that it’s important for everyone to read. It’s a book that has stayed with me and I’ve continued to think about long after reading.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Headline for my copy of this book. It would make a great book club read as I feel there would be lots to discuss.
About The Author:
Sarah Schmidt isd the acclaimed author of SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and won the AIBA Literary Fiction of the Year 2018. She lives in Melbourne where she works as a librarian. You can follow her at https://sarahschmidt.org/ and on Twitter @ikillnovel.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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