Category: Literary Fiction Reviews

A review of Be Near Me by Andrew O’Hagan

And Be Near Me is exquisitely written and this in itself prompts another question. Can a book that is exquisitely written condescend to bother with plot, characterization, and, quite simply, the dirty work of novelistic labor?

A review of Beginner’s Greek by James Collins

The problem is that there’s not much substance to this novel. If all you want is entertainment, then this will provide it. It is competently written, but uneven; character development is in need of work. And there is too much manipulation of the reader.

A review of His Illegal Self by Peter Carey

This last sentence so changes the story, that this reader at least, went back and re-read it in its entirety, seeing everything in a different light. I enjoyed it the first time, but found much to reflect on the second – the hallmark of a good novel. Che is believable, both as the eight-year old boy struggling to find himself, and as the older, wiser narrator he becomes by the end of the book.

A review of Magic and Grace by Chad Hautmann

Unlike Billie’s Ghost, the magic in Magic and Grace is all metaphorical. There are visitations though. Chapman’s father materialises temporarily to give Chapman his blessing, there are the ghosts of the ancient Calusa buried below the city of Naples where the book is set (and the ghost of the city as it changes progressively), and of course the ghost of Keats from Chapman’s first novel.

A review of Aphelion by Emily Ballou

Ballou has created a much more complex novel in Aphelion than in Father Lands, but it’s no more difficult to read as a result. The complexity of time, place and multiple view points is dealt with sensitively and with a sophistication that is always tempered by Ballou’s great love of character and language, and an undercurrent of enduring humour that’s never far beneath the surface.

A review of The Do-Nothing Boys by Tony Nesca

Some of this novel is clumsy and a little repetitive, but the ferocity of Nesca’s writing is indomitable and covers weaknesses with something that approaches indisputable glory. He is a poet writing prose and dealing with material that is so close to him that he often struggles to manage it objectively. It is raw honesty from one of life’s damaged angels and worth your attention.

A review of Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Pratchett shows his usual flair – wonderfully Dickensian – for names. Lipwig’s girlfriend, a very abrasive young woman, is Adora Belle Dearheart. And the fun gathers in the last quarter of the book to reward the persistence of the reader.

A review of Long Afternoon of the World by Graeme Kinross-Smith

The photographs become everyone’s close people. The times and places become our own memories of what we’ve known, and been and where we’ve ended. It is, indeed, a long afternoon – and at the end of it is evening. Though this isn’t a fast novel to read, nor does it leave the reader with a denouement in any sense. Yet it is both beautiful, and powerful in its ability to draw out, like a great poem, the core meaning of a moment.