Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

With thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For most of this book I had no idea really what was happening and yet I kept reading because the writing was strangely hypnotic.

It all came together beautifully at the end and I feel a better person for reading it which is surely the purpose of reading.

Inland is the story of two frontier settlers Nora and Lurie, living in the American territories. The two characters’ stories progress simultaneously, though with different time frames and set during different times in the American West.

Nora lives in a homestead, working to keep her house running and her family fed. She is waiting for her husband to return from the search for water. Her two older sons have left after an argument and she is alone with her youngest son who has seen a beast. She is also caring for her frail mother-in-law and her husband’s niece who communicates with the dead.
Lurie migrated to the American territories as a child and was sold to the Coachman who picked up the dead and robbed graves. He became an outlaw along with two friends and was wanted by the marshal. He joined the camel corps and began the long trek through the American West with his camel, ferrying goods.

The stories seem disconnected at first and there are many backstories, but then the two characters’ stories converge in an unexpected way. While the two stories are very different, the territories of Arizona and New Mexico were drought-stricken and both characters experience an immense thirst.

Throughout the book it becomes clear that Tea Obreht is a skilled writer and her characters are constructed thoughtfully and with great care. The book is very atmospheric and the thirst of the characters is expressed vividly. There is quite a bit of violence in the book, but I guess that accurately mirrors the time period.

Camel Corps, people riding camels which carried goods, is a little known piece of history. The Wild West was definitely an interesting time period and I had to do some background reading, because the children’s books I read when I was little did not portray it accurately.

I had initially picked up this book because I had heard such great things about Tia Obreht and because one of the themes of my book club was the Wild West.
At times the book felt disjointed and was a bit hard to get into and it took me a while to finish the book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group, W&N, and Tea Obreht for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

interesting read might need a few hankies during the book

Inland by Téa Obreht has had many accolades, including being named one of the best books of the year by The Guardian, Time, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, and The New York Public Library. I love the cover and the description made me keen to read it. It’s a book that has been on my NetGalley shelf for far too long, I’m sorry to say, mainly because each time I began reading it I struggled to understand what was going on.

It is a book of two halves really, alternating between the two storylines as the blurb outlines. I found the Lurie narrative difficult to follow at first. It’s vague – at times I didn’t know who was who, who was talking, who was a camel and who was a person. I did work it out eventually! Lurie is a former outlaw, who sees and talks to the dead. He is haunted by the spirit of Hobb, a kid of four or five. But Lurie’s story is slow and meanders. I was losing interest, and often the location was unclear as he moved from place to place. However as I got further into his story I did form a clearer picture of his life as he joined the Camel Corps and became a cameleer. (I was fascinated to discover that camels were used in the American West as pack animals.)

But it’s the second story of Nora Lark and her family, which is much clearer and easier for me to understand. It saved the book for me and made me keen to read on. They are living in Arizona in a homestead. There’s been no rain for months and their water supply is nearly exhausted. Emmett, her husband has gone to get more water and has not returned . Her two sons have gone to look for him, and Nora is left at home with her youngest son, Toby, who is terrified by a mysterious beast he sees around their house at night, and Josie, her husband’s seventeen year old ward and cousin, who see spirits. Nora’s daughter, Evelyn died before her sons were born, under mysterious circumstances, and she is constantly in Nora’s mind as she imagines her growing up and having conversations with her.

Several times as the narrative turned from Nora back to Lurie, I was about to give up on the book, but I wanted to know what happened to the Larks and to find out how the two strands would interlink, or if indeed they ever did interlink (they do). As I read on I began to understand more about Lurie and his life, but it was hard work. If I re-read it I think I would enjoy it more, but I don’t feel inclined to right now. But I really liked Nora’s story and the depiction of life in the American West during the mid-to-late 19th century.

In her acknowledgements Téa Obreht explains that Inland is a work of imagination based in part on the journals, letters and reports of the men who were part of at least one aspect of this history and on the work of the historians of the American West.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for my review copy, with apologies for taking so long to read the book.

An excellent follow up to The Tigers Wife, this is another beautifully written novel. The setting is perfectly imagined and i got a real sense of both time and place. I loved both narrative strands and how they were woven together. A multilayered story that will benefit from more than one reading, this is definitely one that will work with reading groups and a range of other library promotions.

This much anticipated second novel by the author of "The Tiger's Wife" uses magic realism and ghosts to remake the American West. A slow but moving and involving read - for those who like a book they can lose themselves in.

I am a huge fan of The Tiger's Wife and I really wanted to love this book. Sadly I gave up halfway through. I don't want to give it a bad review because it's well written but I think it's a case of just not quite being my cup of tea. There are two strands to the narrative and I enjoyed one more than the other, but in the end I just lost the will to keep going through the chapters I wasn't enjoying to get back to the ones I was.

This second novel of Obreth is very different then her first one.
Set in Arizona in 1893, this historic literary novel explores the dark side beneath the American dream...The protagonist is an orphan called Lurie, who had to fend for himself at a young age and forced to become an outlaw to survive... Then, of course, he will be challenged to survive as an outlaw.
A rich and immensely detailed read about that particular historical period

This book was heralded for its significant readers. However, I was unable to finish it, as I couldn’t connect with the story how I wish I did. Such a shame, so much potential.

It’s been around eight years since I read Téa Obreht’s debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, but I remember loving it for the beautiful writing and the story that stuck with me so I decided to give this second novel a try. Unfortunately I couldnt connect as much and didnt find the characters engaging. Again it was written beautifully but I found the story dry and slow and found it hard to motivate myself to pick it up.

This I am afraid to say was not for me.
The story was far too slow and confusing.
I had to give myself a pat on the back for sticking with it and managing to finish.
Very disappointing.

Thanks for Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

So there’s been a whole lot of hype about this book (even Barack Obama was reading it!) so I was excited to read it. I was completely engrossed for the first 20% or so and the section with Nora and her family and then came...the camels and I lost interest completely.

I don’t have anything against camels, I'm sure they are lovely in their own way but somehow the book just became incredibly boring from this point on and the plot or characters weren’t interesting enough to keep me engaged.

It’s well written and the historical details are interesting, but it just turned into a complete snoozefest for me. Lots of terribly clever people have enjoyed it though so it’s probably just me.

Although the blurb for this was certainly intriguing, and I liked the look of the cover, this unfortunately just wasn’t the book for me.

Nothing wrong with it precisely, I just couldn’t seem to get going, so perhaps just one of those things!

Altogether, the blurb and the writing style made it appeal to me, but sadly... not one I would personally return to, and one I sadly couldn’t finish.

Having read and enjoyed "The Tigers Wife" I was intrigued to read Obreht's latest book. Set in the 19th century American West, the book is told from two points of view - Nora, a frontierswoman awaiting the return of her husband, and Lurie, an immigrant who becomes a cameleer. Whilst I can acknowledge that it is a beautifully written book I found it somewhat slow and struggled to get into it, with neither the plot nor the characters ever really drawing me in. I was left feeling glad I had read it but that it had at times felt a little too much like hard work for me to really love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A really well written novel with two parallel stories. However the link between the two stories seemed a bit clunky and not very believable. Characters were excellent and the historical detail was very interesting in looking at camels used in America and the important role of newspapers to the settlers. The books looked at the different cultures and his they lived together as well as the hardships that Pioneer life involved in areas with few resources.

Personally I really struggled with the flow of the book and lost the story early on. Doesn't mean it is a bad book just didn't work for me.

I really struggled with this book. Very, very slow moving and nothing that caught my imagination. I don't like reading stories which use a dialect as you have to concentrate too hard on the words, rather than following the story but that is just my opinion.

I’ve never read Tea Obreht before and I have to say wouldn’t feel inspired to pick up another novel of hers. Although this book was very well written I found the pace of the narrative a struggle and it took me ages to read. I felt that it was very stilted as it meandered through time and place. The story is told through two points of view, Lurie and Nora are both haunted by their ghosts with demands being made on Lurie and Nora having conversations with her dead daughter. Unfortunately this was just not my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and Tea Obreht for the opportunity to read this and provide an honest review.

Not really my thing. There was too much time spent on long, boring, rambling dialogue and not much of a story so I spent most of the book reading words and not really caring what the characters were talking about or taking in what they were speaking about.
I did enjoy that the two ' journeys' did marry up at the end but a really weird, presumably non-reality conclusion.