BLOGTOUR: Review of Ellie & The Harp - Hazel Prior

Purchase Here

Sometimes it takes a chance encounter to discover what your life could be like... 

Meet Ellie. She’s perfectly happy with her home and her husband and her quiet life. Happy enough, anyway. Which is why she’s so surprised to find herself drawn to an extraordinary stranger who gives her a gift - and a fresh perspective.
Meet Dan. He thinks all he needs to be happy is the time and space to carry on making harps. Sometimes people buy them, too. But the last thing he expects is for Ellie to walk into his life, a whirlwind with cherry-coloured socks, bringing a string of surprises into his ordered existence.

As Ellie and Dan get to know one another, they begin to see the world - and themselves - in an entirely new way...

 Perfect for fans of The Keeper of Lost Things and Three Things About Elsie

My Review:

This is a beautiful story that’s told in an incredibly well written and charming way. It’s a tale of finding friendship in unlikely places with unlikely people, a story of looking past your initial conceptions and in following your own path, even trying something new.  Hazel Prior is very descriptive, whether it’s about the characters, the places etc. and I think it just adds to the story and especially lends well to Dan’s character and the way he thinks.

I adored Dan. What a fantastic character! I love a book that gives us both main characters POV and I enjoyed the insight in to what went through his mind as we progressed through the story – how he dealt with occurrences beyond what he was used to, how he evolved and handled what was out of his control.  Dan’s character was explored well, his personality and traits that make him such an intriguing and beguiling character.  The type of character that you don’t see often.

Ellie is interesting, someone that is looking for more than she has but doesn’t necessarily know what it is she is looking for. She is a simple soul, who enjoys writing poetry and feeling at one with nature walking the Exmoor Country. She is seeking something to comfort her losses, give her a purpose that is truly hers. Her husband Clive is controlling, overbearing and far from what Ellie needs, didn’t like him from the moment he made her return the harp at the beginning of the book.

This is a beautiful debut novel, as you read you get a clear sense of the authors love for the subject – for the angelic sounding harps, which were described so poetically.  As I read of a blossoming friendship for these two individual souls, I had a sense of trouble looming for both Dan and Ellie but as tragedy unfolds, it isn’t over the top, over dramatised or sensationalised, it remained in keeping with the style in which Hazel Prior had created.

Ellie and the Harp Maker is such a sweet and simple story, a special read that leaves you with a warm feeling, just like a cosy hug. A real treat to read and one I recommend highly.

Thank you to Anne Cater, Hazel Prior and Penguin RandomHouse for the opportunity to read and review this book, and for the chance to take part in this blog tour.  

Hazel Prior lives on Exmoor with her husband and a huge ginger cat.

As well as writing, she works as a harpist. You can find Hazel at @HaveAHarp. #EllieandtheHarpmaker