This is a lovely book about a broken statue and some even more broken people. It's a nice, short read and I enjoyed it, but the setting fell a bit flat for me. This story just really wasn't my cup of tea, though it is written beautifully and is a wonderful story of finding yourself even in the darkest of times when you think everything is lost.

I really enjoyed reading The Wingmaker, being a short novel, I was able to immerse myself into the story in an afternoon.
I found the plot to be original and the character were well written.
I am definitely going to have to source more of Mette Jakobsen work.
Thank you so much to Text Publishing and NetGalley for kindly gifting me this amazing story to read and review.

This is an interesting and clever novella that Mette Jakobsen has presented for readers with strong characters, an original plot being a terrific read. Two lost souls confronting traumas in their lives accidentally coming together in a rundown hotel The interaction between both and the visitors opens sores that have been festering in their lives. I wanted to find out more which lead to not putting the book down until finished. All in all, an enjoyable story and highly recommended.
An independent review NetGalley / Text Publishing

The Wingmaker is the third novel by Danish-born Australian author, Mette Jakobsen. She really needs to excel on this statue for the National Museum, and Vince has offered his newly bought, if somewhat remote, property: Vega can set up the five-hundred-year-old angel and restore her wings in one of the empty rooms of the Seafarers’ Hotel.

Crippled by agoraphobia since her heart surgery six months ago, Vega is just summoning the wherewithal to cross the empty space from the taxi to the derelict, windswept building when a naked man runs out the front door and into the sea. Naked, except for a gold knitted crown. This, it turns out, is Gunnar, the Afghanistan veteran whom Vince has employed as a handyman to renovate his latest investment.

While she is an experienced restorer of marble, Vega has a two-week deadline and was expecting to have the place to herself: no interruptions, no distractions. But it’s no surprise really, the run-down building and the damaged soldier: her adopted father is a successful Italian restaurateur who might be a visionary or just a kind man with a weakness for broken things. Lame pets. And people. Like Vega and co-adoptee, Suze.

Ignoring persistent texts from the boyfriend who broke it off when she was post-op, Vega gets to work, but the hundreds of marble fragments aren’t cooperating, and when the heater breaks down, it becomes apparent just how inept Gunnar is. The bunch of farmers who turn up to use the foyer as a ballroom don’t help matters either.

This is quite a short read (it can easily be devoured in one sitting) but Jakobsen manages to pack a great deal of story into that. Her characters are quirky and appealing: a loud, brash, flamboyant sister; a loyal, supportive, health-food-nut friend; a group of farmers who love to tango; an elephant-observatory designer; a horse-trainer who knows when to ask and when to listen.

And the hotel itself is a character, with its chandeliers and numerous deer paintings and pineapple and hummingbird wallpaper and its dive-bombing green canaries and pink share bathrooms.

Jakosen’s tale is at times sad, at times laugh-out-loud funny, as she explores how childhood experiences can shape adult behaviour and thinking: why you might not allow yourself to be lost in a pleasurable moment, why you might settle for less than you deserve, just to feel safe. Humour and heartache: a beautifully written feel-good read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Text Publishing.

‘The abandoned hotel comes into view. Derelict, windswept.’

Vega has an ambitious restoration project, and her father Vince has offered her the use of a hotel he has bought. It has plenty of space and will be quiet, which is what Vega needs as she is still recovering from a heart operation. But when she arrives at the abandoned ‘Seafarers’ Hotel’, she finds that she’s not the only resident. The hotel may be abandoned, but it is not totally uninhabited. One of the rooms is occupied by Gunnar, a handyman with some issues of his own, who is apparently undertaking some restoration work, there are canaries in the chandeliers, and occasionally a group of locals use the ballroom for dancing. Vega despairs of finding the peace and quiet she craves, and of making sense of the pieces of marble which constitute the angel’s broken wings.

Rebuilding the angel’s wings is a painstakingly slow process, and Vega makes little headway at first. But as she gradually lets down some of the barriers she has erected, some things become clearer and easier to deal with. Some relationships need to be nurtured; others need to be re-examined.

And slowly, as the angel is restored, Vega rebuilds her life.

‘It feels as if I’ve spent my whole life letting the tiniest things come between me and other people.’

I enjoyed the quiet contemplative nature of this novel: about love and loss and moving forward.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

4 stars!!! (out August 3rd!!!)

**Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
#TheWingmaker #NetGalley

Pros
+ quiet, meditative, melancholy, redemptive
+ this is a book that sneaks up on you and MAKES YOU SOB in a good way
+ the cold, crumbling seaside hotel setting (complete with chandelier, gilded frames, painted lux wallpaper, and two untamed canaries) is the perfect backdrop for this story
+ Vega: marble restorer in need of serious alone/recovery time after a post-heart surgery breakup
+ Gunnar: the hotel "repairman" who's also an ex-military medic looking for his own way to recovery through swimming naked in the ocean and reading
+ physical disability rep (post-war injured arm)
+ neuro-atypical rep (PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety, agoraphobia)

Neutral
/ I would have loved to read another 200 pages, honestly. I sunk into this book so quickly and didn't want to leave it.

Cons
- none really

TW: heart surgery (off-page), heart attack (off-page), abandonment, parent death (off-page), car accident, foster care, PTSD, panic attacks, war, death from an explosion