Audiobook Review – The Fell

Title: The Fell

Author: Sarah Moss

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/ Novella

Goodreads Rating: 3.70

My Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Source: Audiobook

Synopsis:

At dusk on a November evening in 2020 a woman slips out of her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two week quarantine period, but she just can’t take it anymore – the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know.

But Kate’s neighbour Alice sees her leaving and Matt, Kate’s son, soon realizes she’s missing. And Kate, who planned only a quick solitary walk – a breath of open air – falls and badly injures herself. What began as a furtive walk has turned into a mountain rescue operation . . .

Unbearably suspenseful, witty and wise, The Fell asks probing questions about the place the world has become since March 2020, and the place it was before. Sarah Moss’s novel is a story about compassion and kindness and what we must do to survive, and it will move you to tears.

My Review:

This was a book that my lovely friend Megan chose for me to read as part of our reading challenge. This was to fit the prompt of ‘Short Book’ and at less than 200 pages it certainly fit the bill. I saw this pop up on Borrow Box as an audiobook so opted for a listen yet again.

Whilst the pandemic way of the world seems to of settled down I was dubious about reading a book set during the pandemic. After spending two years living that lifestyle I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the book as much but decided it was worth giving it a go.

What I will say is Sarah Moss captured the pandemic life perfectly and depicted all the thoughts and feelings that many of us would of faced during that time. Loneliness, claustrophobia, helplessness are all themes that run through this story as do moments of love, compassion and moral.

There was an eery atmosphere that ran throughout the story as you wondered what would happen to Kate. Would she be found and if so would she be alive? Whilst Kate should not of left her house I could understand her wanting to and when you live somewhere so remote I could see why she didn’t see the harm in it.

I loved learning more about the mountain rescue operation team and thought it was great to see another part of the front line brought to the forefront. The dangers that these people face just searching for someone were nerve wracking and during the pandemic these risks were heightened further.

Overall this was a great listen and at times I actually forgot that it was based on events so recent. I found myself stuck into the community and the compassion of our characters rather than what brought them there.