Thoroughly engaging read

Mina Morgan knows that something bad is about to happen when a siskin appears in her room one morning, watching her with beady eyes. It has been years since she has seen one of her “ghost birds”, the harbingers of doom only she can see. Mina is not surprised – she has been unhappy with her life choices lately, living a lie and yet too mired in regret and grief to take her fate into her own hands. But before she can take action, a serious car accident leaves her fighting for her life in a hospital in Brighton, unable to remember large chunks of her life including the circumstances which brought her here.

80 years earlier, young Grace Kemp also enters the hospital doors, a decision which was as much forced upon her as Mina’s coma. Disgraced and estranged from her family she is hoping to make a new life for herself as a nurse, and that the hard labour will wipe away the sorrow and grief she carries in her heart. Little does either woman know that the hospital will change their lives in ways they could never have imagined.

It is hard to assign a genre to this unusual book, which I would call a “coming of age” story as two young women born generations apart must overcome the hurdles of the past and take their lives into their own hands in order to stop being victims. In the Light of What We See contains elements of several genres: there is mystery and suspense, an element of the supernatural, historical detail of nursing in the 1930’s, friendship and a sprinkling of romance. Linked only by the historical building of the Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, the two women connect through a thin ghostly thread as both their lives are hanging in the balance.

I loved the way the author managed to connect these seemingly two separate stories in the most unusual way, as well as the attention to historical detail which brings Grace’s story to life. I found the characters of both women thoroughly engaging and felt a definite connection and empathy for their plight as the details of their lives stories slowly unfold and they grow more confident as they start taking their lives into their own hands. The author does a great job of connecting the two story lines and tying together all the loose ends in the final chapter. Whilst the supernatural element is often overdone in other novels, it is perfectly executed here, a thin mysterious thread, a window in time. In the Light of What We See was a mystical, engaging read which kept me thoroughly enthralled from beginning to end, despite its relatively slow pace (which suits this story perfectly). I loved it!

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