Gone to Earth

By Mary Webb

Although to outside eyes, her existence may seem beset by difficult circumstances, 18-year-old Hazel Woodus loves her idyllic life in the gorgeous Shropshire countryside, where she spends most of her time communing with the forest and woodland creatures. But when a clash with her eccentric father causes unbearable tension in the household, Hazel decides it's time to make her own way in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sheba Blake Publishing
• Release date: Sep 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329565715

Reviews for Gone to Earth

[cissa_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting book, and more compelling than I'd expected it to be.It's very didactic and philosophical, but the gist of the plot (in modern terms)is of a young and naive woman torn between the desires of a Nice Guy (tm) and a Bad Boy.It is very clear that neither of them are more concerned about her than of their ideas about her- this is explicitly stated, many times, in the text. She has her passion- for the natural world- and neither of her suitors pay any attention to that.I will say the Nice Guy (tm) actually did stand up for her more than one would have expected, and without making demands on her (except in his mind). Nonetheless, it was rather a classic tragedy, win which the sad outcome is inevitable based on the various characters and situations involved.I am not really sure what Webb's opinion was; although she laid the fault of the tragedy squarely on the men, she also did not treat Hazel- the female protagonist- as an entire person, capable of choosing; she was more of a force of nature. I assume that the dialog of "what women are" has, in the past 100 years, changed enough that it's hard for me to grasp her point without absent context.This novel also has some brilliant passages describing the natural world- flowers, storms, trees, etc.- worth reading for that.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was like Thomas Hardy mixed up with Jane Austen with a smattering of DH Lawrence and an extra helping of melodrama at the end. It was a reasonable story, but it helps if you like lots of descriptions of nature and fey characters. An understanding of Potteries dialect would help too.