I loved every single bloody page in this book, what a beautiful journey Charlton has shared with us here, a journey not just across land but across her past and into her Mum’s soul. Charlton recently lost her Mum, their life together wasn’t the greatest, too much Mother/Daughter clashing and it’s not until the last weeks of her life that Charlton realised what she had been missing out on. Her Mum travelled to the Hebrides on a number of occasions, so Charlton decides to take on a journey from Barra to Lewis….and to make it that much tougher she is taking her Pony, Ross, with her.

I have to admit that I am a dog person, I’ve never understood the appeal of having a horse or a pony, you see them walking along a road looking glum and they stand in fields in all weathers looking depressed….and the ponies on the common where I work are real bullies and always chase me because this one time 5 years ago I had an apple with me. This book has changed my mind 100%, Ross is lovely fella and to read about the bond between Pony and Human was wonderful. That spark he has in his eyes really shows on these pages and it’s not until there is a chance of danger for Ross that you realise that you have started to bond with him, which is quite a remarkable experience. Whenever Charlton turns up Ross will lift his head to greet her….my dog on the other hand would never move an inch to greet me if he was comfy in his bed.

Charlton’s Mum loved to make jewellery and Charlton has taken some of her beads and stones to leave at memorable places on this trip, the intention is to create a very long piece of beaded jewellery, this is a fantastic idea and a wonderful homage to her mum.

The journey, landscape, wildlife and people made for interesting reading, the land can feel very cold and dark at times and now and then they are almost overwhelmed by the colour and beauty of the land. There was quite a mix of people too, some openly hostile and others incredibly generous, it takes a wonderful human to say “Yes you can crash at my place and the ponies are welcome too”. I don’t think this journey could have been done without the kindness of these people, a friendly smile did so much to raise their spirits. I got small issue with the book though…they ate tinned sardines….eeeeewwwww!!!

This truly is a great read and maybe one day I’ll be able to offload my kids and take a trip around the islands.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/marram-by-leonie-charlton/