Life is beautiful and simple when you're a child and in this case, Angela's only seven, and she enjoys life out in lush countryside they reside in.
However, children are also observant and her mother's sorrows are not lost on her and what starts as a few tears opens up a world of memories, hurt and her mother's desire to drown in them.
The story is set in Ukraine and I found the writing part mystical, part enchanting so much so that I could not place the book in an genre and I reckon that's a good thing. Angela seems to be floating on air, in a world full of bliss, beauty and magic and her mother is outside looking in, that's how their relationship felt like to me.
I received a copy of this book off NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you so much to booksgosocial via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of the women behind the waterfall by Leonora Merial.

Not your happy feel good story.
A child shouldnt have to take the pain and burdens of the parents.
As a young girl she comes to her mother crying and thats when she starts to take all the pain and bad choices that her parents have made and hold on to them, to help them will hurt her but shes being a good daughter.
It was emotional and beautiful.

The Woman Behind The Waterfall by Leonora Meriel
This book was so interesting, magical and realistic at the same time. It is about a strong connection between three generations of women in the same family, in a small Ukrainian village .
It is the story of their bond, which is so tight that even in death they are able to communicate to help each other through thought and dream, to keep their family unit from disintegrating.
At times I was a little lost in the story, where I think she (the author) was showing us what some of the different outcomes could be for the mother(Lyuda) and daughter (Angela).
The descriptions of the garden, the countryside and the village are wonderful, the author has a very lyrical and fanciful way of writing.
Angela, is always happy and seeing the best of life, she has the ability to become other things, a bird, a flower, the river and see and enjoy their point of view.
Lyuda , the mother because of certain circumstances in the story, has become depressed and sad, she is stuck in her past yet trying to be there for Angela.
The Grandmother, who is no longer alive has the gift of love which she tries to communicate to her daughter and Angela, and to help them to break a negative thread which is keeping Lyuda in her past memories.
Here is a wonderful piece from the book where the river is saying:
“Throw me your past, throw me your memories. Throw me your sorrows and I will carry them away. My waters are always clear. Whatever is given to me, I release. If you hold on to the memories of what you were, you will never become something that you are not.”
I am not really sure I have given this book a fair review as I find it a bit hard to describe, yet I can say it is well worth reading, so that you can make up your own minds, it is definitely quite a fascinating journey.
I would like to thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this book.

Well, I don’t know if you should call this a novel at all. You might call it a poem. Or a piece of music. It ripples and flows, it turns on itself. It’s beautiful.



I have a tendency to read for plot, and this hardly has a conventional plot at all. There is a story, and it’s an age old story of love and loss, but it’s the way that it’s told that is so engaging. There are themes and motifs that recur – the river, the rope, the bird, the dancing child – as if the writer is creating a new mythology, making new images out of the same set of picture tiles. There’s a sense of place and of culture that is subtle but powerful. Basically, you’ll either love it or just not get it. You should try it, though, because if you do you'll discover something really special.

A Masterpiece

This novel is a true work of art. While, a serious reader, like myself, may not fully appreciate it I just know that the more creative, artistic, reader lives for this type of book. If a piece of writing could also be a painting, this would be it.

The author writes in beautiful, lyrical prose dancing around human feelings. I'd have much rather she got straight to the point, but there was beauty in her choice of words and her writing style. You don't find many books like this anymore.

It took a while to comprehend the story being told, that of a mother suffering from depression and alcoholism while looking after her little girl. The story shifts perspectives, but is primarily told by the daughter.

It was an intensely tough subject for any story but the writing really put me under a kind of spell, there is no better description for the feeling. I was calm which meant I was completely surprised at the details slowly unfolding. The writing made the story that much more triggering and heartfelt.

I received this book through NetGalley

This is a beautifully written book, almost poetic. Heartbreaking but a really fantastic read.

Very interesting and engrossing read. Loved the magic realism and the interconnectedness of generations. Beautiful story!

I’m so glad to have picked this one up! It focuses on a mother who is battling depression and the choices that she makes. This is one of those stories that has definitely stuck with me long after I finished the last page. I can’t stop thinking about it. Definitely a very touching moving the story and I highly recommend picking it up!