rising from the ashes
Riding Towards Shadows really impressed me more than most books I've read in recent months.
A self-discovery novel that exudes strength and vulnerability at the same time, is personal and also help (almost instructions) for women in a similar situation. Nellie Merthe Erkenbach takes us on her journey through the pain of loss, a journey into her past, which she undertakes to heal in the present.
The Glasgow of the 1990s is an unknown world but opens up through Erkenbach’s vivid descriptions and flashbacks.
Riding Towards Shadows is a "road movie" and that's why the vehicle plays a special role; her motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson Sportster, is almost mythical, a symbol of masculinity that helps this woman to emancipate from male stereotypes. The actual journey thus becomes an inner development, a maturing process.
Because these are real people, some characters remain a little unclear but this gives the story a certain kick.
Riding Towards Shadows is suffering from love lost and growing through dealing with the pain, it is not a humorous book but one that stays with the reader for a long time after the last page is turned.
Nellie Merthe Erkenbach: Riding Towards Shadows
funtastic insights into the real Scotland
Reading this has been so much fun so in case you do speak German - go and get Erkenbach's "Abenteuer Highlands".
The author, a famous and well travelled tv journalist, ends up in the remote Scottish Highlands with a man she rarely knows.
All these little everyday adverntures she has to "survive" out there in the beautiful wilderness of Europe's far North, her thoughts filled with humour and wisdom.
And yes, she falls in love with the guy and they get together but the adventures seem to be as amuseing as they are neverending.
Her stories vary considerably, from historical murders to funny neighbours, extraordinary customs and hilarious mishaps like the lost pants on the bike - I will not give too much away. Just read it and be happy.
Five stars from me MS Erkenbach!
