LoveReading Says
Available in English for the first time, Ewald Arenz’s debut Tasting Sunlight has been on the bestseller list in his native country Germany for three years. Translated by Rachel Ward, the story is set on a rural farm, where two quite different women invertedly become friends. Sally, young and troubled, comes across Liss, an older farmer who takes in the runaway without judgment or demand – and yet neither can know they will form a bond that spans their generational divide.
Little by little, their personal stories begin to unfold, and we start to understand the trauma that’s brought them both to this point. This sensitive element is handled so well by Arenz, who brings a sense of hope to their lives, a promise that the sun will rise on the horizon – their taste of sunlight.
And for lovers of nature, the writing is a homage to the land, from the seasonal harvest to ripening of the late summer fruit – mirroring the women’s blooming friendship.
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Reviewed by Julie VuongJulie Vuong is a journalist working at the centre of UK publishing, serving as feature writer at news service, BookBrunch, and columnist for Mslexia, the iconic magazine for women…
More reviews by Julie Vuong About Tasting Sunlight
An anorexic teenager escapes from a clinic and forms an unlikely friendship with a farmer. The two damaged women slowly heal as they work the land, in an achingly beautiful debut.
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Tasting Sunlight Synopsis
An anorexic teenager escapes from a clinic and forms an unlikely friendship with a farmer. The two damaged women slowly heal as they work the land, in an achingly beautiful debut.
Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she to be treated for anorexia. She's furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace.
Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.
From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn't like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.
That night becomes weeks and then months, as an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up - connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts through their shared work on the land.
Achingly beautiful, profound, invigorating and uplifting, Tasting Sunlight is a story of friendship across generations, of love and acceptance, of the power of nature to heal and transform, and the goodness that surrounds us, if only we take time to see it...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781914585159 |
| Publication date: |
23rd June 2022 |
| Author: |
Ewald Arenz |
| Publisher: |
Orenda Books |
| Format: |
Ebook (Epub) |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Ewald Arenz Press Reviews
‘Ewald Arenz has, in the most exquisite way possible, showed how two wounded souls can heal one another … a triumph’ Peter Etzel, Nurnberger Zeitung
‘Powerful, original and engaging. I loved it’ Susie Boyt
‘Sometimes less is more. Tasting Sunlight is breathtakingly beautiful’ Louise Beech
‘Raw and tender, brutal and gentle, striking and perceptive all at once’ Doppelpunkt
‘Nothing and yet everything happens in this story. The simple minutiae of everyday life becomes intricate and essential: rituals that connect one woman to the land and her heritage, and show a lost, younger one a different truth. Moving, heart-wrenching but ultimately uplifting’ Carol Lovekin
‘A simply wonderful, heartwarming read…’ Fiona Sharp, Bookseller
‘It’s rare for a friendship between women to be written with such enchanting, impressive honesty. And by a man. Bravo!’ Stadtmagazine
‘A book full of empathy. This beautiful book is written without shallowness or trite answers and it touched my soul’ Live & Deadly
‘Tasting Sunlight is the perfect story for our time. It is uplifting and healing … Truly exceptional, a novel with heart and with characters and setting that are alluring, beautifully created and totally enchanting’ Anne Cater
‘A very special story that will leave no one untouched … the author’s love of nature shines through’ Bilt
‘A stupendous debut. A triumph. Don’t miss it’ Louisa Treger
‘It reminded me of reading Sally Rooney’s Normal People. It takes a writer of immeasurable talent to make you feel that intensely, merely by evoking ripening late summer fruit and the sound of rain on dusty ground’ Elizabeth Haynes
