The Man who Rained by Ali Shaw ~ Review

Product Description from Amazon

"When Elsa's father is killed in a tornado, all she wants is to escape - from New York, her job, her boyfriend - to somewhere new, anonymous, set apart. For some years she has been haunted by a sight once seen from an aeroplane: a tiny, isolated settlement called Thunderstown. Thunderstown has received many a pilgrim, and young Elsa becomes its latest - drawn to this weather-ravaged backwater, this place rendered otherworldly by the superstitions of its denizens. In Thunderstown, they say, the weather can come to life and when Elsa meets Finn Munro, an outcast living in the mountains above the town, she wonders whether she has witnessed just that. For Finn has an incredible secret: he has a thunderstorm inside of him. Not everyone in town wants happiness for Elsa and Finn. As events turn against them, can they weather the tempest - can they survive at all? The Man Who Rained is a work of lyrical, mercurial magic and imagination, a modern-day fable about the elements of love."

My Review

When I saw that this book was released on New Year's Day I had to treat myself.  I bought and really enjoyed Ali Shaw's debut novel The Girl with Glass Feet and was hoping that this one would not disappoint.  I'm glad to say in my opinion that it didn't disappoint at all.

Ali Shaw has a distinctive style of writing that draws you into the story.  He has the ability to write fairy tales for Adults, that are full of magic and are a joy to read.  At the heart of this book is a story about relationships and maybe a touch of romance. 

Elsa has always had a keen interest in the weather from an early age.  It's all down to her father's interest in storms and this is his downfall in the end.  It's following her father's death that Elsa re-evaluates her own relationship and her life in New York.   Elsa is drawn to Thunderstown which she'd seen some years ago from a plane window.  All is not as it seems in Thunderstown and the reader is soon caught up in the happenings and how day to day life differs from the 'norm'.  As we are introduced to some of the inhabitants we realise that like in all good fairy tales, we have some goodies and some baddies to tell you more about these inhabitants would spoil the story as I'd prefer you all to draw your own conclusions as to which side everyone is on.

Elsa happens upon Finn Munro one day and soon realises that he is not quite what one usually expects in a man but it's her love of clouds and all things weather related that attracts her to him.  This attraction doesn't please everyone and as things spiral out of control, events happen and nothing will be as it was before!

What happens and whether the story has a happy ending you'll have to read for yourself.  If like me you enjoy modern well written magical fairy tales aimed at Adults then this book is for you.