“She was the most alive person he’d ever met.” “Her mouth was blotted red, as if she’d painted her lips, regretted her sin, and rubbed her shame on the back of her hand.” “Grace Macaulay – in whose veins ran Essex rivers and Bible ink…” “For God’s sake, Thomas Hart, for God’s sake: isn’t itContinue reading “ENLIGHTENMENT – Sarah Perry”
Tag Archives: book review
CREATION LAKE – Rachel Kushner
“The French might have better novels (Balzac, Zola, and Flaubert) and they have better cheese (Comte, Roquefort, Cabecou). But in the grand scheme that’s basically nothing.” “Bad people are honored, and good ones are punished. The reverse is also true. Good people are honored, and bad people are punished, and some will call this grace,Continue reading “CREATION LAKE – Rachel Kushner”
STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL – Charlotte Wood
“A feeling that something is coming, waiting to be born, out of this time. Almost physical, like before a period, or pregnancy, or vomiting. Something is getting ready to resolve itself.” The Booker journey continues with Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional (Allen & Unwin 2023), yet another thin volumed character reflection, heavy on the introspectiveContinue reading “STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL – Charlotte Wood”
WILD HOUSES – Colin Barrett
We’re a week out from the shortlist announcement, and I just finished my ninth from the Booker Dozen. In following this year’s theme of thin volumes and character studies, Wild Houses by Colin Barrett (Grove Press 2024) is a gritty look at small town Irish life – heavy on drugs, violence, and hopes to escapeContinue reading “WILD HOUSES – Colin Barrett”
WANDERING STARS – Tommy Orange
“I wasn’t trying to be funny. I could have done it if you hadn’t come. We’ve just been the feather. We used to be the whole bird. We used to believe and we were the whole bird.” Next up on my Booker journey is Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars (Knopf 2024). Wandering Stars is a bookendContinue reading “WANDERING STARS – Tommy Orange”
THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY – Claire Messud
“This strange eventful history that made a life. Not good orbad – rather both good and bad – but that was not the point. Above all, theyhad been, for so long, wildly curious. Just to see, to experience all thatcould deny, to set foot anywhere, to speak to anyone, taste anything, to learn,to know.” IContinue reading “THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY – Claire Messud”
ORBITAL – Samantha Harvey
“Raw space is a panther, feral and primal; they dream it stalking through their quarters.” “There’s a lingering sense of an unfinished dream, something wild in his thoughts.” The Booker train is certainly off to a roaring start, and I think this may be the first year I complete the longlist before the winner isContinue reading “ORBITAL – Samantha Harvey”
HELD – Anne Michaels
“Stories told on a battlefield, on a life raft, in a hospital ward at night. In a café that will disappear before morning. Someone overhears. Someone listens, attentive with all his heart. No one listens. The story told to one who is slipping into sleep, or into unconsciousness, never to wake. The story told toContinue reading “HELD – Anne Michaels”
MY FRIENDS – Hisham Matar
“Friend. What a word. Most use it about those they hardly know. When it is a wondrous thing.” The 2024 Booker Prize longlist was announced on July 30th. Of the official “Booker Dozen,” I’d read only one: Percivall Everett’s James. (Feel free to look back for that review.) Prior to the announcement, I’d read anContinue reading “MY FRIENDS – Hisham Matar”
PRAISEWORTHY – Alexis Wright
“A magic donkey could rip your heart out and make you go wild, if it knew you had an overwhelming desire to own it, and knew that you would do anything to capture its power.” “She is the prisoner of the ghosts and trapped inside her house.” “… of course he knows that Aboriginal SovereigntyContinue reading “PRAISEWORTHY – Alexis Wright”
A Girl Named Tommi 