Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.
Paula’s e-reader is lying on a denim duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel.
Next up in my 'it took me so long to read this NetGalley advance copy that the book has been published for ages now' series we have Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. The TL; DR version of my review is that this is a strong contender for my favourite books of the year list!
Phoebe Forde has been living a quiet life in Copenhagen, housing sitting and looking after an anxious dog named Dolly. Phoebe commutes to Sweden, where she is studying and working toward her PhD. Phoebe is a “woman without a past” until her former girlfriend Grace arrives at her door looking for a tour of Copenhagen.
Grace has never met Phoebe as Phoebe. Their relationship ended before Phoebe's transition, and Grace's reappearance brings the life Phoebe left behind in Ireland back into focus.
Set over a long weekend, Wild Geese sees Phoebe and Grace explore Copenhagen as they reflect on their lives and their relationship.
Emmanuel's writing is evocative, humorous – at times darkly so, in the way Irish humour so often is – lyrical, and full of empathy. Wild Geese is a stunning debut, and I can't wait to see what Emmanuel does next!
I highlighted so many sentences and passages, so I'm ending my review with a couple of my favourite lines.
"I am not altering the blueprint of my body – these things were always there, from the day I was born. They just required a certain mature and gentle coaxing, a habitual tensing of the muscle of self-knowledge."
Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel is published by Footnote Press in the UK and Ireland and by Feminist Press in the US. It is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.
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