I try very hard when writing reviews to avoid clichés and superlatives, like, say, "achingly beautiful" or "masterful". But I think I'm going to use one for Eimear McBride's multi-award-winning debut novel A girl is a half-formed thing when I describe it as "searing". I can't think of a more apposite word. Yet I fear it too … Continue reading Eimear McBride, A girl is a half-formed thing (Review)
Reading group book
Clare Wright, The forgotten rebels of Eureka (Review)
Wah! Once again I delayed reading a much heralded book until my reading group did it*, and so it is only now that I've read Clare Wright's Stella Prize winning history, The forgotten rebels of Eureka. The trouble with coming late to a high-profile book is how to review it freshly. All I can do, … Continue reading Clare Wright, The forgotten rebels of Eureka (Review)
Richard Flanagan: The narrow road to the deep north (Review)
I love generosity of spirit, the ability to rise above terrible things to see the humanity that lies beneath. Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize shortlisted The narrow road to the deep north is, without being sentimental or glossing over the horror, a generous book - and this is why I expect it will be one of … Continue reading Richard Flanagan: The narrow road to the deep north (Review)
Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a dutiful daughter (Review)
I have only read one other work by Simone de Beauvoir - and I'm ashamed to say that it wasn't The second sex (which still sits in my long-in-the-tooth TBR pile). It was, instead, one of her autobiographical novels, She came to stay. I enjoyed it as I recollect, but that was a long time ago. … Continue reading Simone de Beauvoir, Memoirs of a dutiful daughter (Review)
Roslyn Russell, Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park (Review)
A week or so ago my local Jane Austen group had a guest speaker at our meeting, Roslyn Russell, the author of Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park. Russell is a local historian who has written this historical novel based on Jane Austen's novel, Mansfield Park. She is also a lapsed member of our group, … Continue reading Roslyn Russell, Maria returns: Barbados to Mansfield Park (Review)
Wallace Stegner, Crossing to safety (Review)
Nearly two decades ago, I read Wallace Stegner's Angle of repose. I loved it. Indeed, for many years I had the following quote from it on my work whiteboard: "Civilisations grow by agreements and accommodations and accretions, not by repudiations". Not just civilisations, I thought, but marriages, teams, organisations. I like the way this man thinks. … Continue reading Wallace Stegner, Crossing to safety (Review)
Adam Johnson, The orphan master’s son (Review)
Given my current reading preferences, I probably wouldn't have read Adam Johnson's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The orphan master's son, if it hadn't been for my reading group, but I'm rather glad I did. It's a confronting novel, not only because of its brutal content, but also because it is an outsider's critique. I always feel more … Continue reading Adam Johnson, The orphan master’s son (Review)
Hannah Kent, Burial rites (Review)
"We'll remember you" says Margrét to Agnes on the day of her execution. We sure will, if Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial rites has anything to say about it. Kent's book is the second novel set in Iceland I've read, the first being Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness's unforgettable Independent people. Although Laxness's novel is set a century after Burial rites, … Continue reading Hannah Kent, Burial rites (Review)
Christos Tsiolkas, Barracuda (Review)
The best way I can describe Christos Tsiolkas' latest novel Barracuda is to liken it to what Tsiolkas would define as a "good man", tough on the outside, but tender within. I don't know how Tsiolkas does it, but he manages to reach into your heart while at the same time confronting you to your … Continue reading Christos Tsiolkas, Barracuda (Review)
Eleanor Catton, The luminaries (Review)
Now here's the thing ... I don't make a practice of reading mysteries. I really don't care about who dunnit. When Mr Gums and I watch television crime shows, I rarely concentrate enough to work out the plot intricacies, but I do watch the characters. I'm always interested in the detectives and their relationships. I … Continue reading Eleanor Catton, The luminaries (Review)
Whispering Gums 