Ghosts Of Spring

I was blown away by Luis Carrasco's new novel, Ghosts Of Spring, and am so grateful to Epoque Press for offering me a review copy to read. Carrasco repeats the stunning portraiture he achieved with his debut novella, El Hacho, but this time depicting the bitterly harsh realities of life on the streets through an English winter.

Ghosts Of Spring is an emotionally powerful novel to experience, yet it is not entirely grim and depressing. I loved the anonymous girl at its heart who appears to have lost absolutely everyone and everything, save for the few items she carries in a small bag, but she has determination and, most importantly, can still hope when an opportunity presents itself. As readers, we see the city through her eyes, meeting the other similarly anonymous homeless people to whom she gives descriptive nicknames, but never actually seeks to get to know. This idea of unknown people in plain sight runs throughout Ghosts Of Spring. The girl feels frequently invisible to the mass of shoppers and commuters passing by her cardboard mat except for the rare occasions when she might awaken to find a hot drink left at her side, the invisibility reversed for just a moment.

I'm now a firm fan of Luis Carrasco's writing. His prose here is achingly poetic and gorgeously descriptive. Its contrasting of city and rural landscapes reminded me why I so much prefer to be out in nature. If you're looking out for powerful contemporary fiction which doesn't pull any punches and has a lot to say about present-day English society, Ghosts Of Spring is absolutely the novel for you.

I was blown away by Luis Carrasco's new novel, Ghosts Of Spring, and am so grateful to Epoque Press for offering me a review copy to read. Carrasco repeats the stunning portraiture he achieved with his debut novella, El Hacho, but this time depicting the bitterly harsh realities of life on the streets through an English winter.

Ghosts Of Spring is an emotionally powerful novel to experience, yet it is not entirely grim and depressing. I loved the anonymous girl at its heart who appears to have lost absolutely everyone and everything, save for the few items she carries in a small bag, but she has determination and, most importantly, can still hope when an opportunity presents itself. As readers, we see the city through her eyes, meeting the other similarly anonymous homeless people to whom she gives descriptive nicknames, but never actually seeks to get to know. This idea of unknown people in plain sight runs throughout Ghosts Of Spring. The girl feels frequently invisible to the mass of shoppers and commuters passing by her cardboard mat except for the rare occasions when she might awaken to find a hot drink left at her side, the invisibility reversed for just a moment.

I'm now a firm fan of Luis Carrasco's writing. His prose here is achingly poetic and gorgeously descriptive. Its contrasting of city and rural landscapes reminded me why I so much prefer to be out in nature. If you're looking out for powerful contemporary fiction which doesn't pull any punches and has a lot to say about present-day English society, Ghosts Of Spring is absolutely the novel for you.