Review: A Portable Shelter

A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not one to always get on with a book based in magical realism however, I had heard such good things about this book I could not resist giving it a chance.

This book is based on a gay couple Ruth and Liska who have moved to a remote coastal cottage in Scotland while Ruth carries their first child.

Each of them spends time telling the baby stories containing moral and life lessons from what they have learnt. This includes many magical realism tales including selkies, werewolves and child-eating witches.

They agree not to tell stories to the baby so each of them are relaying their tales in secret from each other.

I really did enjoy the small tales included within the overall story of Ruth and Liska however, was somewhat disappointed when the concluding story was about Death.

I felt sad that the child was not born during the final pages of the book and felt extremely curious to find out with a mothers name like Liska (meaning "Fox" in Czech) whether there could have been a possible twist with the birth of the child as a werewolf.

Despite this I can honestly say this is one of the first magical realism titles I have managed to get on with and it has reopened my interest in this genre of book.

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