The Whirpool by Jane Urquhart

A poetical and lyrical story set in 1880s Canada.

I don't think everyone will like Urquhart's style of writing, it's very descriptive, of light, sound, nature in general, I've seen it described as 'lyrical' and 'poetical'. Personally, I like the way she writes. She has the ability, when describing nature, to make you long to be among woods or some other place among the flora and fauna. The novel is set in Niagara Falls in the 1880s and features four main characters. There's McDougal, the military historian, obsessed with a battle that had taken place in Niagara seventy years earlier. Then there's Fleda, his unconventional wife who's living in a tent with her husband by the river until their house is built. Patrick spies on Fleda with field glasses. And Maud Grady, the Undertaker's widow who collects the possessions of those who commit suicide in the river, and her strange little boy.

I liked the book very much, the people interested me and so did the setting, Niagara Falls. It's gentle, meandering through the lives of these four very different people.