Clear by Carys Davies

Well, when I finished Clear I was completely unsure about what I'd rate it. Nothing seemed to be able to encapsulate the utterly untethered feeling I had when I finished it. Numb? Apathetic? Shruggy shoulders? Deflated? Cheated? Something like that. And that kind of review is really hard to write, because — on top of all the lack of emotions the ending left me with — the majority of the book had some entirely gorgeous writing and characterizations.

Set during the 1840s Scottish Clearances, a poor minister takes a job evicting the last occupant of a remote island. Despite his wife Mary's qualms, John goes, only to be severely injured upon arrival. Ivar, who has lived alone for decades, nurses John back to health. Though they don't share a common language, they develop a fragile connection as John learns to understand Ivar's world.

The beauty in this short novel holds fast and lasts through so much of the book. Davies explores human connections: real, imagined, developed, and tested. The careful development of the characters really serves the story and setting so perfectly, in tune from the outset. However, the ending felt rushed and unearned, as if someone else's hand came in and grabbed the baton, sending us reeling, and suddenly the book was singing a different song.

Audiobook, as narrated by Russ Bain: Bain did a great job — especially with the moody and stormy trio of main characters whose thoughts and actions dominate the novel. He played all three brilliantly and gave full consideration to the room the beautiful prose needed within the confines of the story itself.