![]() ![]() ![]() In the novel Signs for Lost Children, a couple are separated for six months on opposite sides of the world (specifically, Japan and West Cornwall) in Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland, Moss chronicles the time she and her family spent living abroad. Moss’s earlier work has included both fiction and nonfiction, with a shared fixation on landscapes and their effects on people. In Ghost Wall, the goal is more one of simple survival. ![]() In a different work, these might be hallmarks of a coming-of-age story. In Ghost Wall, Moss blends evocative and stark language with a disquieting narrative. Soon enough, the oppressively patriarchal society from which she seeks to extricate herself has taken on another aspect, and the landscape abounds with sinister portents and ominous structures that seem designed to prevent escape and stifle dissent. It would be a fascinating foray into archaic ways of living, except that the academic conducting this research doesn’t seem entirely reliable in his methods, and Silvie’s father quickly reveals himself to be controlling and physically abusive. Silvie, the young woman at the heart of Sarah Moss’s new novel Ghost Wall, has embarked on a fascinating project: living with her family and several others in a style inspired by Iron Age Britain. Tobias Carroll | Longreads | January 2019 | 16 minutes (4,245 words) ![]()
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