Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize Five words from the blurb: Romanians, danger, corruption, destroy, Ceausescu The Last Hundred Days explains what life was like for Romanians in the final months of Ceausescu’s reign. The story is told through the eyes of an English student who arrives in Bucharest after being given a job, despite not [...]
Posts under ‘Booker Prize’
A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards
Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize Five words from the blurb: mother, murdered, guilt, memories, violence I’m pleased to announce that this year’s Booker long list has finally rewarded me with a wonderful book. I wouldn’t have discovered A Cupboard Full of Coats if it hadn’t been on the long list and so my efforts [...]
The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes
Winner of 2011 Booker Prize Five words from the blurb: retired, memory, imperfect, insight, past The Sense of an Ending is a quiet, reflective book and if you know me then you’ll immediately hear the alarm bells ringing. This book has virtually no plot and, unlike the fabulous Anne Enright, Julian Barnes failed to to engage [...]
The Testament of Jessie Lamb – Jane Rogers
Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize Five words from the blurb: women, dying, girl, innocent, heroism The Testament of Jessie Lamb is one of the most frustrating books I’ve ever read. I was gripped by the fast paced plot, but internally screaming at the frustrating actions of the narrator, the unlikely global events and the numerous bizarre [...]
Two Abandoned Bookers
Long listed for 2011 Booker Prize Derby Day by DJ Taylor Derby Day instantly transports you back to Victorian England. It is meticulously researched and the dialogue is so realistic that I often felt as though I was reading a book written in the 19th Century. The story begins with a typical Victorian courtship: ‘But of [...]
The Sisters Brothers – Patrick deWitt
Short listed for 2011 Booker Prize Five words from the blurb: Old West, brothers, humour, melancholy, violent Lonesome Dove is the only Western that I’ve read and although I enjoyed it, I found it a bit too long. The Sisters Brothers has a similar style to Lonesome Dove, but it is like a tightly honed version. All the excessive [...]
