ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Where does one go when they're lost?One ends up on Inis Caillte, of course. Mysteriously hidden off the coast of Ireland, Inis Caillte is the unknown fourth Aran Island. This island, however, isn't accessible through conventional means. Only those who are lost are able to find their way there - lost in moments of hopeless despair. The inhabitants are immune to the obstacles of langue and prejudice, and welcome to th...

I don't know if this was great or if I am just so charmed by the experience of going to the library and coming home with a bunch of unexpected novellas that it sheds a golden glow over the reading. Regardless, I enjoyed this so much. I love fiction-y fiction, the kind that attempts to explain something nebulous and emotional like lost-ness in concrete but magical terms. I love books about towns with lots of characters. I love slightly creepy atmospheres--not what I would count as straight-up hor...

Unique! Unlike anything I've ever read. Presents a different view on life, after life and death. Shows feelings, fears, belief and disbelief in an unusual way that however hits home in many ways. Not a sequential story - moves around and around. Despite this once I got about a third of the way through it became difficult to put down. If you like a rare mixture of history, fantasy, myth adn truth this is one to read.

Fun! Confusing! Eerie! Also makes me wanna learn more about the weird lore in the Celtic region.

“She was afraid of the ocean’s endlessly reaching silent hands that would seize and drown her.”The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie is the haunting story set in a village in the Aran Islands. When a body washes ashore it sets in motion a mystery the inhabitants try desperately to solve. What surfaces is a fourth Island off the coast of Ireland where only those who dwell in despair can make it there through their own darkest moments.From the beginning, this novel sets an ominous atmosphere with its

1/28/22: 3.5 stars. This is a very strange and odd book. It defies every typical standard I have for character, plot, and setting development in a book. I did like it, but it's so different from everything else that I really cannot tell if others would. I liked it because of the way it tied into history and because I did end up liking a few of the characters. But I could easily see someone hating it. That being said if you are interested I do think it's worth a shot, in case you do like it, but

What's urging me to read this besides the gorgeous cover, you wonder, knowing I'm a sucker for pretty covers. Ummmmmmm-AH. Hellooo?!You have read the synopsis, right? [checks own pulse and loses count quickly]

I was hoping this slim volume would be as good as its magical cover… but it’s not, unfortunately. I enjoyed it - it’s a lovely and strange little tale but it doesn’t really go anywhere or say very much. What held me back from complete involvement in the story was the author’s odd way of stepping outside the tale to discuss what’s going on, almost in the manner of a history textbook. At its best the storytelling reminded me of the beauty and clarity of Ursula Le Guin’s writing, but she does it so...

This is another of this year's short, dreamy, kind of unresolved tales that I fully enjoyed sinking into. I'm not sure I have much more to say about it. It's like a fragment of a legend or fairy tale, discovered as a side mention in an old book about something totally different. Maybe everyone knew about it at the time, but as much as you'd like to know the full story, the rest has been lost to the ages and you're just lucky you got this glimpse to spark you're curiosity and imagination.

This is a book about being lost, life and death, and redemption. In Irish folklore, there is a fourth Aran island, Inis Caillte, off the coast of Ireland. It is where people who are lost and despairing go when they die. Once there, they are immediately accepted by the other residents because everyone is lost and there are no language barriers.This is certainly not your typical book as there is no easily discernable plot arc and no main character. What there is, though, is wonderfully nuanced wri...

This just wasn't clicking with me. I was thoroughly and utterly bored. I managed 20% before dnf'ing. 2 stars

A very lovely short novella, set in the Aran Islands, touching on life, death; love, despair; and the power of a hand-knit sweater.I really enjoyed this and will keep my eyes open for more from this author."Wherever there are sheep, there are women knitting sweaters..."

This is a good, quick, slightly haunting read about villagers on an Irish island who vanish. I think the aspect I appreciated the most was the clear double-entendres. It's easy to appreciate a mysterious vanishing but, what highlights Tolmie's writing abilities is the reasons she gives for the disappearances & how life is altered by the subsequent changes on the island.

Some of the most beautiful prose I’ve read all year. Just wow.

An interesting work of speculative fiction infused with Irish folklore. The eponymous "Fourth Island" refers to Inis Caillte, a hidden island that calls to the lost, saving them from death, isolation, and despair. The island erases all barriers of language, difference, and even time, creating a secret community that transforms its unwitting inhabitants into a softer, truer version of themselves. [3/5: Atmospheric and almost philosophical. You can almost feel the sea mist on your face through the...

It seems like this short story was reaching for a big poetic concept, but it got really muddled down by overly cryptic symbols that could have been much more simplistic and stronger. Then there was the repetitive nature of certain aspects of the story, no ah-ha moment, and no real conclusion of events either... I had much higher hopes at the start for this one.

The fourth island is a novella set in the Aran Islands. The story takes place on Inis Mor and the fictional Inis Caillte (lost island in Gaelic). The island is lost and the people on it are also lost. There’s magic here, people can understand each other even if they speak different languages, the deaf can hear. It reads like a folk tale and I really enjoyed most of the book but the latter section is disappointing and doesn’t have the magic and charm of the earlier parts.

My little knitter heart is happy :)

Loss, despair — and distinctive knitted jumpers— feature strongly in this mesmerising novella which is part historical fantasy, part speculative fiction set on the Aran Islands in the mid-19th century.To read my review in full, please visit my blog.

Sarah Tolmie writes distinctly in The Fourth Island (especially when compared to her latest release, All the Horses of Iceland). There is an whirling sense of time through this novella that you, as the reader, will be intrigued and captivated by--with the shifting characters and histories throughout the narrative--or you will find it absolutely infuriating. I feel like each reader, whether you enjoyed the story or not, will each get something completely difference from the reading experience.