Set in 1936, Haweswater is part furiously passionate and obsessive love story, part tale of an attempt to save a way of life overtaken by industrial development. Beautifully melancholic and emotionally stirring, this homage to landscape, established country ways, family lives and a community soon to be submerged and destroyed, is an evocative read. Hall’s spare writing style, with its continuous tinge of sadness, mirrors the rough landscape of Westmorland and the doomed fate of the sacrificial village of Mardale awaiting it’s watery demise to create a reservoir for the ever-growing sprawl of urban Greater Manchester. This is a exquisitely crafted work with undertones of a disaster waiting to happen and will not fail to surprise or delight; you will probably cry. Superb.
A Fiction Habit 
I loved Sarah Hall’s short story collection, The Beautiful Indifference, which I read a few years ago. Haweswater has been on my radar ever since, so I’m delighted to hear you enjoyed it so much.
I first came across her when Mariella was doing a series of reports for Open Book about landscape fiction a few years ago and they went for a walk together in Cumbria. I found her so fascinating, I bought Haweswater as a result of that interview. Her new one gets great press.
This is one of my all-time favourites so I’m really pleased that you were impressed by it. It’s just beautiful.
Heartbreaking though. I really need to get her new one before my hols…