I received a free copy of The Taste of Apple Seeds from TLC Book Tours for my honest review.
About the Book:
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 4, 2014)
About the Author:
Katharina Hagena is the author of On Sleep and Disappearing. She lives in Hamburg, Germany.
My Opinion:
This story intrigued me for a number of reasons but mostly for the tale of so many generations of women and the house that held them. I entered into it without expectation and it was only after I’d read it that I learned of its popularity in Germany. It’s not a straightforward story – it meanders and wanders and doesn’t completely satisfy. I don’t know if that is due to the novel itself or to translation problems. When you are dealing with issues such as feelings and love all wrapped up in magical realism (the latest must have it seems in books) I can see where much would be lost in translation.
The Taste of Apple Seeds begins with a funeral as the family matriarch is laid to rest. Bertha had been in a home for years suffering from what I can only assume is Alzheimer’s and in her will she leaves the family cottage to her granddaughter, not her daughter as might have been expected. But little is as to be expected in a book where apples appear on trees in June and currents get sweeter with tears.
Did I enjoy it? Yes and no. The writing is very lyrical and would take me so far away at times I could smell the apples on that apple tree or the flowers blooming the gardens. I could picture the cottage with all of its quirks. There was magic in the writing but at times I felt so adrift with characters that talked but didn’t say anything. They would act but yet nothing would happen. I just somehow wanted more from it. It wasn’t a total loss but I think it could have been so very much more.
Rating:
3
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