Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

​This was a great, escapist read for me. I loved Janina's (don't call me by that name!) eccentricity, in which, as is so often the case, there was often a rich vein of unmitigated truth. This was especially ironic in that the wealthy owners of the houses she tended to during the cold, dark winter months saw her as batty and nonsensical: merely a reflection of their own ignorance of the real world.

I did feel a real sense of place in an area I know absolutely nothing about. The near constant references to those across the border in the Czech Republic were delicious in that it became a neighbouring area on the other side of an invisible border, though the distinction in Janina's head was as acute as black and white.

I was intrigued by the loss of her 'lovely ladies' and the underlying animal welfare theme - as much as this was an indictment of human behaviour rather than just the simple love of defenceless animals. I also found the plot mysterious until I got a hint of what was actually going on when she started expressing doubt about herself; her troubled mind. Also accompanied by an increasingly urgent need to find answers in the stars I did wonder whether this was all about referred guilt.

Actually, I found the passages explaining astrology rather tedious. This is not due to scepticism on my part as a daydreaming Pisces, more to do with an author telling us what they know about a subject in just a little too much detail. You understand astrological themes. I get it. Please move on. Being influenced by Blake's poetic romanticism through the sun and the stars is fine, and I can understand the appeal and crutch of pseudo-rational explanations for a mind descending into true madness. However, I think this can be achieved without quite so much detail that sometimes put a brake on the flow of the book for me, like a plow hitting harder ground below the topsoil.

Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing which was beautiful for much of the time and, as I said, a proper escape in terms of time, place and character.

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