Throw Down Your Shadows

This book follows the coming of age of Winnie, whose everything is nestled in Annapolis Valley. This is Winnie's childhood haven, rural and riverside, but where she also navigates the many tributaries of young adulthood along with three others: stargazer Tom, compass Jake and follower Sam.

Each one of their summers is spent doing the same things in the same places. But new and dangerous things arrive in the form of one more- manipulator Caleb (picture seventeen-year-old Iago with less … murderous motives), and the balanced rhythms of the quartet are ever changed…

I had a wonderful time with Throw Down Your Shadows - its retrospective and alternating chronology give the reader an opportunity to piece together the narrative timeline in an unconventional yet compelling manner. Anchoring each chapter to either ‘before’ or ’after’ the central, smouldering plot point immediately hooked my attention and continued holding it throughout. Moreover, even though I was always aware of this plot anchor whilst reading, the whole truth of it still managed to catch me off guard when it was revealed in its entirety. I also enjoyed how far ‘after’ we travel with Winnie, following her through her late teens through to her late twenties.

Because of this narrative pacing, I found myself easily immersed in both setting and story. I’ve never stepped foot in Canada however I feel as though I’ve lived a lifetime there because of the short time I’ve shared with Winnie. Not only does the environment often feel like a character itself, but because of the unique narrative structure through which it is built, you become very connected to Winnie. Her personality shines through the use of parenthesis (quirky) and her succinct yet beautiful observations of characters and context. This fleshed out a curious, yet confident female protagonist whose strength and solitude I grew to admire.

When reading this novel, I couldn’t think of one particular book that I could exactly parallel it with, which speaks volumes to its originality and how much I valued this. If you combined together Jim Crace’s Harvest with dashes of Gilmore Girls and Stiefvater’s Raven Boys you can begin imagining the atmosphere of this book. Although Throw Down Your Shadows stands strong as a new, highly recommended favourite of mine, it if you did enjoy any of these any I highly suggest picking it up!

It’s not always easy for adult authors to capture the complex essence of teenage characters, but Deborah Hemming did just that; taking us into the mind and heart of Winnie. Her fears, her desires, her faults were laid bare. I remember clearly feeling the same possessiveness and worry that Winnie felt for her friends when I was a teenager, and it’s not an emotion regarding teen characters I have read about in a long time. I enjoyed the alternating chronology and felt it added suspense and depth to the story. There is also a big reveal within that caught me completely by surprise. ⁣
The author not only has a way with character descriptions but the scenery as well. She paints us a rich and inviting portrait of an area I have only seen on a map. There are also delectable descriptions of various wines that I wished I could sip and savor as I read along