Rating: 5/5
This month’s review came at me in an unexpected way. In fact, if anyone were to gift me a self-help book, I would likely bury it at the bottom of my storage boxes like most of my repressed feelings.
So, you can imagine how surprised I was when James Norbury’s latest book, Following The Moon (2024) ended up avoiding such a fate and earned a spot on my shelf.
What started off as merely a thoughtless Tesco purchase ended up being an eye-watering experience consisting of tissues and late texts to family and friends.
In Following the Moon readers follow a lost puppy called Amaya, who under the guidance of the moon and her companion, an old wolf goes in search of her parents. What follows is a journey of love, loss and the inevitably of change. You know, life.
Not going to lie, my original intention for buying this book was due to the artwork. What can I say, I’m a sucker for pretty pictures and sure enough it was the stunning artwork that led me to discover Following The Moon is not simply ‘a children’s book’ (My mother’s words. Not mine).
Every page turned, every chapter I read left me an emotional wreck, targeting me in a way I haven’t felt since reading Carol Birch’s Orphans of The Carnival (2016). I loved Norbury’s decision to pair this scarred aging wolf with this small, quizzical puppy, metaphorically demonstrating the progression of the never-ending growth human beings embark on during their lives. It was a beautiful portrayal that opened up my perspective on my own journey, reminding me how far I’ve come and what I have yet to accomplish.
Honestly, there is nothing I could say bad about this book. Though I suppose the emotional damage could be taken as a negative. But in all seriousness, James Norbury’s Following the Moon is a story that will awaken the reader’s mind to feelings they may have forgotten. Something to read just as the New Year approaches.
Comments