Saturday 23 April 2011

Buddha Da by Anne Donovan


I'm in the middle of a non-fiction and Les Miserables, so thought my daytime read should be something a bit lighter, so I picked up this one which has been sat on my shelves since 2007!
Buddha Da, is set in Scotland and told through the voices of the three central characters in a broad Scottish brogue - which I know some people struggle with but I've read Scottish books before and found this just as easy as reading in Standard English.
The story starts out with the traditional Scottish father-type discovering meditation and then gradually Buddhism. The family all have to try and deal with this change in the man whom they have always known to be a bit of a joker. Anne Marie the daughter seems not to have any real issues with it, but feels that she cannot ask him any questions. Whereas his wife, Liz feels lost and angry; the man she has loved since she was 14 has disappeared and someone knew has taken his place.
We watch as the family change and also have to deal with other issues such as death, growing up and pregnancy.
I enjoyed reading this, it was a gentle book with lots of nice characters who each are exploring and changing their lives. This is a typical holiday read, where you can almost see the end from the start, something I probably will have forgotten in under a week, but enjoyed at the time.

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