Sarah CoyneReseñas

Solomon's Pond is about living through the twists and turns of growing older, caring for ailing parents, and the challenges of an uninspiring career. The book has its origins in Celtic Christianity. It is set up so that readers can drop in and out at any time and still follow the story. It is divided into three main parts: Body, Mind and Soul, with all of these seemingly relating to what is happening in a woman's life, including her career, going from bad to worse.

I was unsure about this book when I started reading it as I found the names of the characters rather distracting. However, as I progressed through, I appreciated it more and understood more why the names were used. I think it would have been better to stick to one mythology but this is m personal opinion. As a sufferer of mental ill health, this aspect of it was interesting and actually there as a lot in it that resonated with me more than a lot of 'self-help' books which I have come across which I feel are generally very superficial and behavioural rather than spiritually based. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the spiritual side of mental health. There is a good story running through it and the character of Loki was well named and very easy to visualise, I think many of us have come across people like that in our working lives. There is some great descriptive writing which generally made it easy to see characters and the story.½

Not a book I would normally read and it took me a while to get in to but once I did I enjoyed it. Theres lots of really good quotes and positive messsages that it certainly makes you think! Some great life lessons to be learned!

I had no real idea what to expect from this book.

The back of the book suggested this was a novel but the introduction told me that I was about to receive eleven ‘lessons’; that this book was for “those who feel discontent with their lives.

I am content with my life and I don’t feel that I need any lessons but I pressed on nevertheless – old dog, new tricks and all that kind of thing.

Initially, I was pleasantly surprised and I was quite enjoying the novel. Sadly, this did not last and it began to feel that I was being preached to and not in a gentle way.

I am confused by the use of names. Olympians, muses, Norse Gods & etc. What is Solomon’s Pond? Does it refer to the Wisdom of Solomon? If there’s no meaning, why bother?
As an aside, does the author know who Zeus and Hera were? What their relationship was?

I’m also confused by Thalia’s discovery of “what she is suffering from”. It suggests that she has been suffering all along but as far as I can see, it stems from an event quite far on in the narrative. There is cause and effect. Again I am left confused.

I hope that this book helps some people, I really do, but I feel it is too disjointed. I like the idea of putting self help into a novel that people can identify with but, in my opinion, it hasn’t been done very well.

I enjoyed Zeus and Hera. Loki wasn’t strong enough to be true to character (if, indeed, that was intended). And on a personal note I really did not like Thalia’s relationship with her vehicle and I got fed up of references to Jada.

In conclusion, it simply wasn’t for me. It frustrated more than it satisfied me. I was more invested in Zeus and Hera than in Thalia. There were also some minor errors which, given everything else, niggled more than they should have.

Sarah Coyne has written the spiritual journey of Thalia. The reader is in her head has she muddles through work and life and weighs up decisions. We meet her as she drives to Wales from south-east England as her father has been taken ill on the ferry from Ireland. He survives but is poorly and needs continuous care. Meanwhile Thalia's job becomes more stressful as she is sucked into her ambitions to move up the further education college ladder. Her boss takes advantage of her repeatedly and piles more responsiblity on her shoulders while taking the credit. The novel covers around three years or so and Thalia finds herself also becoming ill. Thalia looks for help from her parents, particularly her father, and her friends and tries to implement it. She tries to find something special in every day, she tries to make her own path through life but these things are increasingly difficult as she battles with migraines and vertigo and a high work load. The dialogue alternates between simple chatting to meaningful lectures. Inside Thalia's head the narrative is sometimes muddled and it seems to take her a long time to see what she needs to do. An interesting idea for a novel.

I have read Solomon's Pond and quite enjoyed it. I'm not too sure if it's meant to be just a work of fiction or a self-help guide. I'm also puzzled why the characters have Greek Gods' names rather than human names. I thought there might be a clue about this in the book, but not. There were a handful of minor errors and a few bigger ones, which I have emailed to the publisher, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment.

Solomon’s Pond is a book that contains a lot wisdom about life and the problems that come with what is generally valued in our western societies.
Thalia is a hard-working teacher at a college. Her career plans are clearly defined, and at least at the beginning, they work out, too. Over time, she finds less and less satisfaction in her job, though, especially caused by her toxic boss who lets her do all the work and earns most of the resulting fame.
When she finds out that the whole college is corrupt there is nearly no motivation left at all. She develops migraines and severe vertigo but still can’t let go of her job for fear of not finding another.
In the second, parallel story arc, Thalia talks to her father who is a very wise old man and tells her everything she needs to know to lead a happy life. Her clinging to her job shows very well how hard it often is in reality to do what we know would be the better alternative.
The narration of the novel is often interrupted by parts that read more like an advice book, sometimes several pages long. During the first chapters, I sometimes found this to be a bit too much, also because I wasn’t told anything new or eye-opening. This became much better in the later parts, though, and it was especially the “Soul” part that gave me, personally, a lot.
I also liked that the book doesn’t end with some kind of “everything turned out perfectly and she lived happily ever after”, as spiritual books of this kind often do. It stays open, anything can happen, which delivers a much more realistic feeling of what is actually required to go such a step.
A great book. Highly recommended!

An astute author, Sarah Coyne, has offered us what is really a philosophical and spiritual self-help book in the guise of a novel. A novel that explores many of life‘s dilemmas - health, career paths, ageing parents - A lot of the things that we all have to deal with which is what makes this book so very relevant.
The cast of characters is clever, because the very names give you a hint of what you might expect, from father, Zeus and all that that name implies to boss from hell, Loki, the shapeshifting Norse god. Father Zeus imparts his wisdoms to his daughter, Thalia and it is these that really form the meat of the novel. The story revolves around these. How Thalia acts, given the situations she is unwittingly forced into at times, is in part dictated by the trust and faith she has in her father’s philosophies.

I found the title a little enigmatic. I understood Solomon to be King Solomon who has wisdom, but Solomon’s Pond seems to be a location in a video game! I’d love to know the derivation of the title, and whether I’ve missed something significant in my interpretation.

I thought the book was also the author commenting upon the world we live in today, and there’s very little you can argue with. Although there are some challenging and quite negative incidents in the book, ultimately it’s a tale of optimism and upliftment. It’s full of lessons that we can contemplate and hopefully apply to her own lives. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.