At its heart this is a book with a great premise - how one act of violence has affected a number of characters. It is also beautifully written in many places, a shockingly graphic murder, emotions stripped bare. Unfortunately I found it very meandering and hard to stay engaged with.

I love the story in this book and the alternating character point of view method of telling it. I was hooked in the details and just so enjoyed this book. Five stars!!

I confess that it was love at first sight when I saw the cover of Emily Ruskovich’s debut, Idaho. There was something about the rich floral artwork that caught my eye. Thankfully the blurb held up, as did the opening page, and fairly soon I was engrossed.

Idaho could be classed loosely as a literary thriller. It tells the story of Ann and Wade who live in a remote mountainside forest in northern Idaho. Ann tries to piece together the truth of what happened to Wade’s first wife, Jenny, and their two young daughters, May and June –

“Because Wade had thrown everything away – drawings, clothes, toys – each accidental remnant loomed in Ann’s mind with unspeakable importance. Four moldy dolls buried in the sawdust of a rotten stump. A high-heeled Barbie shoe that fell from the drainpipe… Artifacts heavy with importance they didn’t deserve, but which they took on because of their frightening scarcity.”

Teasers in the opening chapters pull you in –

“Nine years ago, when Wade was still married to Jenny and both of his daughters were still alive, a mouse crawled along the top of the truck’s exhaust pipe…”

Ruskovich’s distinct writing style is immediately obvious – straightforward yet poetic. I particularly loved her depiction of the relationship between Wade’s daughters, May and June – ‘swimming’ in steel drums, their petty rivalries and playing games of MASH. Her use of analogies – a poetry class in a prison, the way a bloodhound follows a trail – was stunning.

There are some big themes in this book – grief, love, redemption and isolation. The themes are explored in many ways, from the harsh landscape where Ann and Wade live and the significance of Wade’s fading memory to the loss of the girls.

“She thinks of Wade. He has lost his daughters, but he has also lost the memory of losing them. But he has not lost the loss. Pain is as present in his body as his signature is in his hand.”

It’s not a perfect book. Toward the end, Ruskovich introduces a few too many points-of-view. Although some were interesting, I don’t think they added enough to the story to warrant inclusion. The ending was marginally unsatisfying (because truly, there’s no possible answer for what unfolds) but a lot can be forgiven on account of Ruskovich’s fine writing –

“The hornets in the corners buzzed, and outside somewhere, under the clothesline where rose-colored shirts were starched with sunshine, two girls were filling miniature blue teacups with sand.”

“Perhaps it’s what both their hearts have been wanting all along – to be broken. In order to know that they are whole enough to break.”

3.5/5 This story hinges on an unspeakably brutal act and yet Ruskovich writes with such beauty. Compelling stuff.

I received my copy of Idaho from the publisher, Random House, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

When Ann first meets Wade, the situation is not easy: his daughter has brought a knife to school and he is fascinated by the music teacher. He starts exercising, learning to play the piano with her. But after a tragic incident in which one of his daughters is killed, the other lost and his wife Jenny sentenced to prison, they lose track of each other. Years later, they are married and Wade is suffering from dementia. Ann tries to put together the pieces of Wade’s life and to understand what happened to May, June and Jenny on that day in 1995. Wild rural Idaho gives them the setting for an emotionally conflict-ridden family affair.

Emily Ruskovich’s novel has been welcomed with much praise which is completely justified. The structure of the novel demands of the reader a lot of attention: we have episodes set in 2004, others go back to the 80s or repeatedly to 1995 – the year of the central incident – but we also spring forward in time and finish in August 2025. But it is not only the chronologically interrupted timeline which requests concentration, the story is also told from multiple perspectives with different foci. The kaleidoscopic pieces have to be put together to form a complete whole and to understand – or at least get an idea – of what happened.

Apart from the construction of the plot, the most impressive aspect of the novel is Ruskovich’s ability of creating an atmosphere. The fact that she places the story in Idaho is not a coincidence, the specific makeup of the landscape is decisive for the action which could not happen anywhere. The characters are formed by nature in a certain way and reunite with it albeit all the technological advancement. The relationships are as complicated as nature is demanding, especially in winter time. Yet, the novel also illustrates what human beings are capable of, how forgiving they can be and how cruel.

Take your picture off the wall
So I won’t have to see your eyes
And maybe soon I won’t recall
The painful things that once were nice

This is one of those pieces of literature that is so beautiful and so emotional that it’s hard to get your words out. I’m stuck on how to convey the beauty and excellence of this book.

Told through several different perspectives over several different years, this novel is a character study of how one event can affect so many different people. If you’re into slow paced, character focused novels with little mystery and action, then this novel is going to become one of your favourites.

Without going through every single character and scene, I feel like it’s not easy to comment on this novel, but I don’t really want to give anything away because I think this is a book you should start off with, not knowing much about it. If Ruskovich wanted you to know more about this piece of work, she’d have written a different synopsis.

All I can say about this book is that it’s a must read debut for 2017. I’m looking forward to more of Ruskovich’s work.

The gorgeous cover drew me to this book and the beautiful, nuanced writing of the opening chapters lulled me into thinking this was going to be a strong 4-star+ book. But then, about a quarter of the way in, things started to wane - and when we jumped to prison and a completely different narrative focalisation, my heart sank a little. Ruskovich writes so well both at the level of sentences and in terms of emotional subtlety that we just don't need all that time-flipping backwards and forwards (so tired!) from the 1990s to 2025, or the switched focalisation between characters.

With issues of love, dementia (and those opening scenes are shockingly visceral), murder, guilt and redemption, there's an awful lot packed in here and some paring back of storylines and a more focused narrative telling would have kept this within the scope of the believable and the moving. Instead it becomes too drawn-out, too distant, and I was never able to believe in the murder at the heart of the book.

So awkward signs of the inexperienced novelist abound but Ruskovich writes so gorgeously that I hope she works on her story-telling craft - so a mixed reception from me but definitely an author to watch: 3.5 stars.

To be posted on Amazon when published

3*- 3.5*

I have been sitting in front of the screen for some time, staring hopelessly at the screen, hoping to find some inspiration on what to write in my review. I even find it difficult to decide on the rating for this debut novel. I am so conflicted about my feelings that I cannot even answer to a simple question: Did I like the book?

Maybe this confusion is due to the fact that I was expecting something else. The blurb states that during a family day-out in the woods “something imaginably shocking happens” which will influence the life of the whole family. I do not know why I was expecting some kind of psychological mystery. I read the whole book waiting for some kind of plot twist or at least an explanation for the terrible event that shadows the life of the characters. I do not need books to have a resolve but the structure and the atmosphere gave the impression there will be one.

The book is written from different POV’s with each chapter hopping around to a different time period. It is hard to summarize the story but I will try to say a few words. Ann moves back to Idaho from England and she meets Wade when he takes piano lessons from her. Wade has dementia and is hoping that the lessons will help him with his memory loss. Ann and Wade get married and they try to live a normal life in a remote house in the woods. This proves to be difficult due to Wade’s shocking thing that happened in the past and changes everything. Slowly, with each chapter, we learn more about the event, Ann and Wade’s relationship, and his former family. We also get a glimpse in the life of other minor characters that were somehow touched by the event. .

The novel is beautifully written, you can feel the author’s talent, her ability to create a bleak tension and there were times when I could not let the book from my hands. However, there were times when I wanted to skip passages. I did not understand Ann and her decision to marry Wade when he already showed symptoms of dementia. Her obsession with his past and his previous family (“I am here because you are not here.”) was very disturbing and a bit odd.

Although I appreciated the beautiful writing the oddness of the book left me a bit dissatisfied. I am sure many will love this novel and it will probably win awards but for me it was not as wonderful as I expected.

Many thanks to Emily Ruskovich, Random House UK/Vintage, and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful debut novel. The writing is exquisite, poetic and dreamlike, but clear and not flowery. Idaho is reminiscent of Kent Haruf's books in that it focuses on the internal thoughts of the characters and their everyday lives. It does however have a much stronger sense of suspense as everything revolves around a very unsettling incident. If you enjoy your books with a linear story line, a definite plot and a big resolve at the end, I recommend that you give this one a miss. For me the central theme of memories - hiding from them, creating them (even false ones) and ultimately losing them was intriguing. Especially the descriptions of Wade's descent into early onset dementia will stay with me for a very long time. I fell in love with all her well-drawn complex characters and enjoyed the constant change of point of views and timelines. Another amazing debut author I'll be keeping my eye on. Highly recommended.

A beautifully written novel that tells a story that is full of heartbreak. There are a lot of things left unsaid in this novel. This leaves parts of the plot open to the readers interpretation. It does not take anything away from the story. In fact in a way it adds to it. It allows the reader to think more about what might have happened.

This book must be one of the most beautifully written books that I have ever read. The author is incredibly gifted, and writes with what feels like great experience, yet this seems to be her first novel. She certainly has an amazing talent, and it will be interesting to see how she uses that for her next book.
The book is beautiful too, but occasionally almost too sad to bear. The lives of the characters intertwine in unexpected ways around several very contrasting locations, and in different times that do not always seem logical, but it soon becomes clear that everything that happens is just dancing around, and nibbling, at the main, horrific event.