‘A Sea of Unspoken Things’ and ‘Spells for Forgetting’ by Adrienne Young.
I read ‘Spells for Forgetting’ a year or two ago. I loved the atmosphere of the book, and I loved the way the author wove magic and our world seamlessly together.
When I learned Adrienne Young had a brand new book, I decided it would be one of the very, very few books I bought new. (my collection is mostly used books rescued from book sales) Down to the bookstore I skipped, thrilled to find such a great reason to buy a brand new book.
The book, ‘A Sea of Unspoken Things’, is also beautifully written. The angst and character drama kept me turning pages as I soaked in the atmosphere of the book. There is also a little bit of magic in the form of a twin connection.
While I could write a full review on each individual book, I wanted to highlight something that caught my attention while reading both books.
They are eerily similar.
While reading ‘A Sea of Unspoken Things’, I was forcibly reminded of ‘Spells for Forgetting’ over and over again.
In both books, the main character is a woman with a past she is trying to forget. In both books, the past events she is trying to forget involve a death and the loss of her highschool sweetheart. In both books, the characters first love is their true love, the one they can’t forget or get over. Both books center around a homecoming after many years to a small town which can’t, or won’t, forget the past.
After I finished the last page of ‘A Sea of Unspoken Things’, I began to wonder why the books were so similar to each other.
If I was a very cynical person, I might wonder if the author is out of ideas. But I am not a very cynical person, and having read multiple of her books, I would be surprised if this were the case.
While the set up of both books are similar, the feel of them is different. Part of the reason why I love Adrienne Young is the atmosphere of her books. ‘Spells for Forgetting’ was set in the fall, and the atmosphere of the book is slightly spooky and eerie, coupled with the beauty of fall in the countryside. The island is beautiful, and it has secrets to hide, as do all of the characters in the novel. In ‘A Sea of Unspoken Things’, the setting is a redwood forest. Most of the novel takes place under the trees, where little sun reaches and everything is hushed. There are so many things unsaid, quieted by the trees which cast an oppressive feel over most of the book. In this way, the books are very different.
Looking at the ways the books are similar and different to each other, I have begun to wonder what the author is trying to say. There must be a reason why she is telling a similar story multiple times. Many writers write stories to make sense of the world, of themselves, of their past. What is Adrienne Young trying to make sense of?
Perhaps I am reading too much into the similarity between books. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if the author is working through something as she is writing these novels. Is she the one who left the small town, reaching for the heights while missing those she left behind? Or is she the one left behind by other people? Both points of view, of the one leaving and of the one left behind, are empathetically written in the books. Neither side is seen as right or wrong. Sometimes we need to leave, sometimes we need to stay.
I wonder what Adrienne Young is telling us, and perhaps even herself, about this decision of whether to leave or stay. I also wonder if she has finished telling it. Some authors find a theme they will write about their whole career, and some hop from theme to theme. Either way, I am looking forward to her next book.
Have a wonderful day,
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 