The Rehearsal

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players” is a well-known theme; a high-school sex scandal is not an original concept either and yet Eleanor Catton manages to blend both performance and controversy together into an accomplished and original début. The Rehearsal is a novel of extended metaphor where fact [...]

The Wilderness

I was happy to be lost in The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey for a few days; I took my time there, exploring, even if it was confusing to be lost at times. I loved this book. I found it subtly heartbreaking. I adored the writing; Samantha Harvey has a wonderful way with words and I [...]

Burnt Shadows

This is the novel I wanted to win the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction; if this is less deserving and overshadowed by Marilynne Robinson’s Home then my imagination cannot extend to how good that novel must be. Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie is profound yet understated. It is poetic in parts and philisophical in others. [...]

Thankful for mercies

I am glad to see Toni Morrison’s A Mercy on The Orange Prize for Fiction’s longlist; although there are an abundance of female American authors on the list this year I am thankful that more readers will be introduced to Toni Morrison. I could be wrong but I think that unless you have come across [...]

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