Categories
2014 Orange Prize

Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey

Dear Thief Longlisted for 2015 Baileys Prize

Five words from the blurb: woman, writing, friend, past, revealing

The Wilderness, Samantha Harvey’s debut novel, was an outstanding book. It was beautifully written and packed with emotion. Her second novel, All is Song, was dull in comparison. I tried reading Dear Thief on its release, but abandoned it because it felt more like her second novel than her first.  Dear Thief was recently longlisted for the Baileys Prize so I decide to give it another try. Unfortunately my initial assessment was correct. It is a lot better than All is Song, but not in the same league as her debut.

Dear Thief takes the form of one long letter from a women in her fifties to a friend she knew thirty years ago. There are wonderful descriptions of their childhood in Shropshire and these are contrasted with life in London. Harvey brilliantly observes the natural world and interactions between different people. I can’t fault the writing on a paragraph level at all:

I suppose the world is constantly producing things of wonderment, every moment, at every scale, and one time in every million or so our minds will be such that we will be open to seeing it. To see the silver effervescing of that dust was as beautiful a sight as any mountain or waterfall; but then, when I saw it, I was in love and as happy as a human being can be. Of course this helped. The world is heavily changed by the way we perceive it; in all my reticence and doubt, this is one thing even I haven’t been able to dispute.

Unfortunately the writing lacked emotion. Even scenes that should have been packed with feeling were tempered by meandering thoughts.

Very little happens throughout the book and I found that there was so much foreshadowing I knew most of the plot before it was revealed. If you can enjoy a book simply for the beautiful writing then you’ll appreciate it, but I prefer a bit of emotion or plot.

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The thoughts of other bloggers:

…a stunning novel. The Writes of Woman

It has so many merits and so many good things about it yet I still don’t feel right saying I truly enjoyed it because I don’t think I did. Plastic Rosaries

…a most unusual book, alive with matters of spirituality and philosophy. Shiny New Books

Categories
Orange Prize Other

The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2015

The longlist for the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was released at midnight and I think it is fair to say that it was a surprise. Almost half of the books longlisted hadn’t appeared on any of the blogger prediction posts circulating in the last week or so. I hadn’t even heard of some of them. At this stage I’m not sure if they are stronger than the books suggested, but I’ll find out as I still plan to read many of the books that didn’t make the longlist (Weathering by Lucy WoodEverything I Never Told You by Celeste NgThe First Bad Man by Miranda JulyEuphoria by Lily KingHausfrau by Jill Alexander EssbaumSummertime by Vanessa LafayeA Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara)

In fact, I am far more excited about reading the books I discovered while researching contenders for the longlist and discussing the likelihood of their success with other bloggers. These books probably need even more attention now they’ve failed to make the longlist so don’t be surprised if I prioritise them over the actual list (below)

The 2015 Baileys Longlist:

Outline: A Novel

Outline by Rachel Cusk

Five words from the blurb: woman, Athens, writing, meeting, indistinct

 

Crooked Heart

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

Five words from the blurb: evacuated, London, Blitz, disaster, money

 

Aren't We Sisters?

Aren’t We Sisters? by Patricia Ferguson

Five words from the blurb: family, secrets, grand, friendship, lodger

 

I Am China
I Am China by Xiaolu Guo

Five words from the blurb: London, translator, Chinese, detention centre, letters

 

Dear Thief

Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey

Five words from the blurb: letters, recriminating, friend, rage, forgiveness

 

Elizabeth is Missing

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

Five words from the blurb: forgetful, mystery, friend, missing, note

 

Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

Five words from the blurb: Flu, collapse, world, relationships, unexpected

 

The Offering

The Offering by Grace McCleen

Five words from the blurb: father, farm, breakdown, memory, rural

 

The Country of Ice Cream Star

The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

Five words from the blurb: children, cruelties, poor, evil, America

 

The Girl Who Was Saturday Night

The Girl Who Was Saturday Night by Heather O’Neill

Five words from the blurb: twins, star, documentary, ex-convict, difference

 

The Bees

The Bees by Laline Paull

Five words from the blurb: bees, hive, obey, sacrifice, Queen

 

The Table Of Less Valued Knights

The Table Of Less Valued Knights by Marie Phillips

Five words from the blurb: Camelot, table, quests, misfits, fantasy

 

 The Walk Home

The Walk Home by Rachel Seiffert 

Five words from the blurb: laborer, Glasgow, family, betrayal, adrift

 

A God in Every Stone

A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie

Five words from the blurb: Indian, army, connections, lives, adventure

 

The Shore

The Shore by Sara Taylor

Five words from the blurb: islands, sanctuary, methamphetamine, miracle, family

 

How to be both

How to be both by Ali Smith

Five words from the blurb: conversation, artist, child, twist, love

 

The Paying Guests

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Five words from the blurb: lodgers, London, unexpected, ex-servicemen, house

 

A Spool of Blue Thread

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Five words from the blurb: family, decisions, generations, moments, define

 

The Life of a Banana

The Life of a Banana by PP Wong

Five words from the blurb: Chinese, London, secrets, violence, family

 

After Before

After Before by Jemma Wayne

Five words from the blurb: immigrant, Rwanda, secrets, disease, demons

 

What do you think of the longlist?

Which books are you most excited about reading?

 

 

Categories
Orange Prize Other

Who will the longlisted for the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction?

On 10th March the longlist for the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction will be announced. Previously known as the Orange Prize, it is awarded to the best full length novel, written by a women, that has been published in the UK between 1st April 2014 and 31st March 2015.

I’ve been researching the contenders and predict that the following books will be longlisted next week:

A Song for Issy BradleyThe MiniaturistWeatheringAll My Puny Sorrows

A Song for Issy Bradley by Cays Bray

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Weathering by Lucy Wood

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

 

Everything I Never Told You (Alex Awards (Awards))How to be bothThe Wolf BorderThe First Bad Man

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

How to be both by Ali Smith

The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

 

Outline: A NovelEuphoriaThe Paying GuestsStation Eleven

Outline by Rachel Cusk

Euphoria by Lily King

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

 


HausfrauThe Girl on the TrainElizabeth is MissingThe Chimes

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum

The Chimes by Anna Smaill

 

A Spool of Blue ThreadEtta and Otto and Russell and JamesAfter Me Comes the FloodThe First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

What do you think of my selection? 

Who do you think will make the Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction longlist?

Categories
Orange Prize Other

The 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist

The 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist has just been announced.

The shortlisted books are:

The LowlandBurial RitesAmericanah

A Girl is a Half-Formed ThingThe GoldfinchThe Undertaking

  • The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
  • The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
  • Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • The Undertaking by Audrey Magee

I predicted three out of six correctly, but am quite shocked that Booker Prize winning The Luminaries didn’t make the cut. It is also disappointing that my two personal favourites, The Signature of All Things and Eleven Days, failed to make it through.

Overall it’s a strong list, but I expect A Girl is A Half-Formed Thing to take the winning spot.

Categories
Orange Prize Other

Who will be shortlisted for the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction?

I’ve now tried all the books on the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction longlist and overall I was very impressed by the quality of the books. It is probably the strongest year I’ve ever seen and narrowing it down to six books is a tough job. I cut it down to 11 books very easily, but deciding which 5 extra ones to remove was more science than judgement – something that probably doesn’t exist on a judging panel!

Here’s my prediction for the 2014 shortlist:

The Signature of All ThingsEleven DaysThe Lowland

A Girl is a Half-Formed ThingThe GoldfinchThe Luminaries

  • The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Eleven Days by Lea Carpenter
  • The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
  • The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
  • The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

Reasons for my selection:

  • Eleven Days is outstanding and deserves to be put through, no questions asked.
  • Reasons She Goes to the Woods by Deborah Kay Davies wouldn’t be out of place on the shortlist, but I don’t think they’ll pick two experimental books and I think A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing is the stronger of the two.
  • The Signature of All Things is the best piece of historical fiction on the longlist.
  • The Luminaries will glide onto the shortlist without any disagreement because of its ambition, scope and writing quality.
  • I don’t think they’ll put two books about immigration/identity through. Americanah is a fantastic character study, but I think The Lowland will pip it at the post.
  • The Goldfinch is loved by the majority of readers. I think several members of the judging panel will be rooting for it. 
  • Burial Rites would probably have made the cut in previous years, but I think it is sadly outclassed this year. The Luminaries and The Signature of All Things take up all the historical fiction quota.
  • The Flamethrowers and All the Birds, Singing are also strong contenders. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either on the list, but I couldn’t justify removing any of my six to include them.
  • The longlist contained a few odd choices so I predict that I’ll be wrong and at least one left field book will make the cut. Possibly switching The Goldfinch for Still Life with Bread Crumbs?

Who do you think will make the Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction shortlist?

Categories
Book Prizes Orange Prize

Three books from the Baileys’ longlist

The Dogs of Littlefield

The Dogs of Littlefield by Suzanne Berne

Five words from the blurb: dogs, poisoned, manicured, lawns, Massachussetts

The Dogs of Littlefield started well, with interesting observations about dog owners. I found their arguments about the shared use of a park interesting as I’m sure the UK will be subject to similar debates about the control of dogs in the near future.

A mystery around the poisoning of local dogs looked like a promising thread, but unfortunately this petered out, leaving only wry observations of the residents in this little town. If you enjoy slow character studies then this could be for you, but I’m afraid it was too subtle and ordinary for me.

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The Shadow Of The Crescent Moon

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon by Fatima Bhutto

Five words from the blurb: Pakistan, brothers, war, devastating, morning

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is set in a small town in Pakistan, close to the Afghan border. It follows three brothers over the course of a single morning as devastating events change their lives forever.

I found the story fragmented and was irritated by the continual flashbacks. The plot was also a bit predictable, with a terrible inevitability that I feel bad for criticising. The politics and culture of the area was well described, but I’m afraid I failed to become emotionally engaged.

Unfortunately it is the same tragic story I’ve heard many times before, with no spark of originality to grab my attention. Recommended if you’re particularly interested in the politics of the region.

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Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen

Five words from the blurb: photographer, New York, country, life, lens

Still Life with Bread Crumbs is an entertaining story about a photographer who is struggling financially. She leaves her stylish New York apartment for a cheaper cottage in the country. Here she meets a variety of local residents, each with their own story to tell.

The writing was fast paced and vivid, but I’m afraid the story was too ordinary for me. I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters and the reflections on loneliness and aging were nothing I hadn’t heard before.

If you enjoy lighter fiction, towards the chick-lit end of the scale, you’ll probably love this, but I’m afraid it didn’t have enough depth for me.

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Did you enjoy any of these books more than I did?