Category: Orange Prize

Categories
Orange Prize

Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels

Fugitive Pieces won the Orange Prize for fiction in 1997.

Jacob Beer is a Jewish poet, who was found by Athos, a Greek scholar, after he escaped from Poland. Jabob was ophaned after the Nazis killed his family, so Athos smuggled the 7 year-old boy back to Greece and reared him as a son.

The writing in this book is very skilled, but I felt it fell in to two very seperate sections. The modern section was very normal, but I found the characters quite irrating. They were too perfect, and the fact that Jacob seemed to be equally burdened by the gravity of his intellect, as we was by his memories of the Holocaust made him difficult for me to like.

The interwoven story of the persecution of the Jews was too graphic for me, and I wish that I hadn’t read it, as I’m sure that they will return to haunt me. The juxtapostion of the two stories intensified the emotion, and it was so disturbing that at times I could barely read it.

The character of Ben is introduced towards the end of the book, and I have to admit that it took me a while to realise this was a completely new person. His voice was so similar to Jacob’s that I failed to realise he was someone new. This lead to some confusion, and I still don’t really understand why he was added to the book.

Overall I think the book was just too abstract for me to appreciate. The narrative didn’t flow very smoothly, and although some parts were vividly described, it was too distressing to be a good read.

Categories
2000 - 2007 Orange Prize

Digging to America – Anne Tyler

The book revolves around two very different families who, unable to have children of their own, adopt Korean baby girls. The families meet at the airport when the new babies arrive in America.

It is an interesting premise for a book, as the two families are very different, both in background, and their attitudes to bringing up children. The Iranian family immediately dress their new baby in jeans, while the American family acquire traditional Korean costumes and read her Korean folk stories. The book revolves around the ‘arrival day’ parties that the families throw each year to commemorate the day they were united with their babies.

There were lots of interesting subjects raised in the book, from national identity, and customs, to adoption and methods of childcare, but unfortunately they were not investigated in any depth. The characters were too numerous for us to generate any real feelings for them, and the plot failed to develop beyond the repetition of the party each year. By the end of the book I was very bored with it, and had lost count of the number of ‘arrival day’ parties that had occurred. The characters were well observed, but they were too ordinary, and nothing exciting happens to them during the course of the book. This could have been overcome by having an emotional insight into their lives, but unfortunately this failed to happen.

Overall, I was very disappointed in this book, and won’t be rushing out to read her others.

Categories
2000 - 2007 Booker Prize Orange Prize Recommended books

Fingersmith – Sarah Waters


This book was one of the oldest, unread residents of my book shelves. Although I wanted to read it, I kept putting it off as I had already seen the excellent BBC adaptation of it, and I don’t normally like reading books when I know the plot. So when the Orange Prize readers Yahoo group announced it was Sarah Waters month , I decided that this was the incentive I needed to finally take it off the shelf.

I’m really glad I did, as it is one of the best books I have ever read. It didn’t matter that I knew what was going to happen, as the writing was so vivid, that it took the story to a whole new level.

The pace was perfect, despite being 550 pages long, my interest was held throughout. I enjoyed reading this book so much that I was torn between the desire to read it, and not wanting it to come to an end.

It completely immerses you in Victorian England. I loved the way the story was told by the two orphan girls. Seeing everything from two different  perspectives was very clever, and added to the suspense.  The intricate details of the plot, and  all the twists and turns make this a very well constructed novel. It’s hard to describe the plot without giving some of it away, so I won’t try to. I just urge you to read it.

Highly recommended.

Winner of the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger for Historical Crime Fiction. Short listed for both the Orange and the Booker Prize.

Categories
Orange Prize

The Monsters of Templeton – Lauren Groff

The Monsters of Templeton was short listed for the Orange New Writers Prize in 2008. It tells the story of a young woman in New York State, as she finds out the secrets of her family tree, in order to discover the truth about her own life.

 

There were many things I loved about this book. The photos at the start of each chapter made the characters in the historical sections feel much more real, and the continual updating of the family tree throughout the book helped me to understand what was happening, as sometimes the large family became confusing. Unfortunately, some of the historical writing in the book did not seem true to it’s age, and so didn’t come across as very realistic. The letters weren’t as well written as the rest of the book, and I lost interest in a few of the characters further up the family tree.

 

The modern story in the book was excellent. The main character, Willie, was very well drawn. I loved her, despite her flaws, and really felt for her as she dealt with the problems she was faced with.

 

I loved the way the discovery of a monster in the lake was made to feel realistic. The scientific analysis of it at the end was particularly clever.

 

Overall, the way the story was well plotted, and the ending was very satisfying.

 

Recommended.

 

Categories
Orange Prize Other

The Orange Prize Project

I love prize winning fiction, so I’ve decided to sign up to another challenge! – The Orange Prize Project . I have read a few of the Orange prize winers already, but there are a lot more buried in my reading pile. Hopefully, by taking part in this challenge, I will be encouraged to move a few of them to the top of the pile!
The ones I have read so far are:

2008
The Outcast, by Sadie Jones

2006
The Accidental, by Ali Smith

2005
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka

2004
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2001
The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood

1996
The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan

The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff, which was shortlisted for the prize this year, is top of my reading pile, so I should finish reading it soon.
I look forward reading lots more Orange prize winners over the coming months!

Categories
Orange Prize Recommended books

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

‘Purple Hibiscus’ started off with the disadvantage of trying to follow ‘A Fine Balance’. I started reading it on the same day I finished Mistry’s masterpiece, and my mind was still buzzing with images from his amazing book. To begin with ‘Purple Hibiscus’ seemed very simple, and flat in comparison, and I was feeling very disappointed in it. Then, about half way through the book, I started falling for it. The simplicity became the main positive, and the message came across very powerfully.

 

I loved the flawed characters in this book. I had great empathy for the main character, Kambili, as she dealt with her controlling father. The political situation in Nigeria was sensitively covered; it was not described directly, but it’s affect was clearly visible through the way it changed the lives of the family.  

 

Overall, this was a great book. Quick and easy to read; but with a vivid portrayal of African lifestyle, religion and politics.

 

Highly recommended.