I was instantly enveloped into the world of The God of Endings. Very impressive for a debut novel and I was SO pleasantly surprised to discover: VAMPIRES! Always a fav subject of mine. Fans of Anne Rice, take note! The novel opens during a particularly brutal and bleak time in history. Consumption is wiping out whole communities and the townsfolk's fears surrounding the disease spiral to the supernatural & cause them to do unspeakable deeds in an effort to quell the spread.

The main character Anna/Anya/Collette survives thanks to her Grandfather and her journey takes a surprising turn. The idea of being immortal is quite seductive, however, once the reality of outliving everyone you'll ever know and love who's mortal (and all that blood-drinking) becomes your reality, it makes the existence sound positively intolerable, at least from where I'm sitting.

Holland's lush prose positively swept me away! I found myself re-reading whole passages simply because of how beautifully written it is. I felt like I knew Collette on an intimate level. I admired her strength and compassion. My heart went out to her and all she comes up against in her many lifetimes; endless lessons to be learned. I so enjoyed her knowledge and use of art. How painting a landscape took her "away" and gave her peace for a short time and her interactions with her students, including little gifted Leo. This book left me with much food for thought. Collette is a poignant character that now lives in my head. I can't stop thinking about her.

I will certainly be keeping an eye out for Ms Holland's future writings and if she deigns to gift us with another installment of Collette, I'll be here for it!

The Weight of Ink.
The title of this book seduced me from the start. I was immediately drawn in by the discovery of the hidden cache of 17th century papers under the staircase and the ensuing investigation into who the scribe "Aleph" really was. At times I felt as if I were being physically jerked out of one time period and plunged into the next because I would become so wrapped up in the tale at that particular moment and I wasn't quite ready to time travel just yet.

I think that's a testament to the brilliance of Kadish's writing. I could envision certain scenes with such clarity, whether it was the tiny room with the hearth where the Rabbi would dictate his letters to Ester, his Scribe, or the rough streets of the Jewish community as the Plague encroached; the sights, the sounds, the SMELLS, Kadish transported me across the centuries to walk those cobblestoned streets alongside Ester, especially when she would visit the book-filled street stalls or go to the bookbinders!

Sure, there were moments when I thought the book was growing ever larger even as I was reading it(!), but in hindsight, in my opinion anyway, there isn't much you could strip away without affecting the overall atmosphere and power of the story. Ester's character is extremely intelligent. She's a survivor. Imagine not being able to pursue your love of reading/writing simply because you're a woman? Unimaginable! Helen Watt, the professor, seems a not-so-lovable curmudgeon but we discover there's more to her than meets the eye as her relationship with her assistant, Aaron Levy, unfolds during the investigation and we also learn why she has that sketch of Masada on her office wall.

This was a thoroughly engrossing read. I really loved this book, however, the ending left me wanting; a little sad, maybe a little anticlimactic because I was expecting (hoping) for a somewhat different finish. Or maybe it was just that I finished it bleary-eyed at 3am and had to be in work in a few hours. But isn't that the time most of us finish the books we enjoy the most?