S.J. Parris
S.J. Parris writes about her inspiration for Heresy, which masterfully blends true events with fiction into a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Adam Haslett
A conversation with Adam Haslett, author of Union Atlantic, a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.
A hauntingly beautiful, wickedly funny and
devastatingly moving novel of innocence
and dreams that announces the arrival of
a major new talent to the literary scene
The attic room at 26a Waifer Avenue in the lower-middle-class London
neighborhood of Neasden is a sanctuary for identical twins Georgia and Bessi
Hunter. It is a private universe where fantasy reigns as well as an escape from
the sadness and danger that inhabit the floors below. Here the girls share
nectarines and forge their identities -- planning glorious success as the Famous
Flapjack Twins -- well removed from their Nigerian mother, Ida, who, devastated
by homesickness, speaks to the spirits of the family she left behind on another
continent. On occasion Georgia and Bessi's older sister, Bel, and younger
sister, Kemy, are admitted into their broad, bright and fanciful realm, but
never their English father, who nightly bathes the wounds of his own upbringing
in far too much drink.
But innocence lasts for only so long -- and dreams, no matter how vivid and
powerful, cannot slow the relentless incursions of the real world. Bel's
transition into womanhood brings a very grown-up problem into the house that
cannot be pretended away. Kemy's entire existence is redefined overnight by
seductive pop-star glitter. And a terrible secret begins to threaten the twins'
utopia, setting them on divergent paths toward heartrending resolutions in a
world of separateness and solitude.
A work of bold, lyrical beauty, telling detail and compelling
characterization -- at once cheerful and thoughtful, playful and profound -- and
written in a unique prose style that metamorphoses brilliantly with the passage
of time, 26a will surely be one of the most-talked-about novels of this year and
many years to come, and its remarkable author, Diana Evans, welcomed
gratefully into the highest order of literary achievement.
Book Reviews
BookBrowse
If you've enjoyed books that explore the 'tug-of-war between dueling identities' such as Monica Ali's Brick Lane or Zadie Smith's White Teeth, you're likely to find much to enjoy about 26a. Full Review (members only, 372 words).
Library Journal - Tania Barnes
Evans's language can be uneven, veering toward the precious or the strange, but she can also turn a haunting, perfect phrase. A promising debut from a young author with much yet to offer.
Kirkus Reviews
Evans's language can be uneven, veering toward the precious (two characters make "butterly love") or the strange, but she can also turn a haunting, perfect phrase. A promising debut from a young author with much yet to offer.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. From the very beginning of Evan's first novel (winner of Britain's inaugural Orange Award for New Writers), readers know they're in for something rich and strange.....This is a funny, haunting, marvelous debut.
Booklist - Jennifer Mattson
Starred Review. Evans should earn accolades for this trenchant debut, which speaks eloquently about identity, displacement, the most anguished of losses, and bone-deep love.
The New York Times - Ligaya Mishan
Only late in the book, when a rupture finally occurs, does Evans rise again to the mythic voice of the beginning, and propel the story to its harrowing and unexpected end. It's worth the wait. For, as it turns out, Evans's true subject is at once more familiar and more exotic than England or Nigeria. She allows us a glimpse into the lost country of childhood, of which we have all been citizens and to which we can never return.
Boston Herald
Beautiful . . . A very earthy and relatable tale of family bonds and fractures.
New York Times Book Review
Beautifully written . . . [Evans] allows us a glimpse into the lost country of childhood, of which we have all been citizens and to which we can never return.
Boston Globe
26A deserves to be read, and reread, by a large audience . . . Evans deftly balances comedy and tragedy, unfloding her story in vivid patchwork pieces that come together to form a bittersweet family portrait, splashed with brilliant images.
Daily Mail (London)
Bittersweet . . . an alluring blend of fairytales and nightmares.
Melbourne Herald Sun
Beautiful . . . Evans is in a class of her own.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.
The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
Lisa See has written a great book! This story is satisfying on many levels, some scenes horrifying, but seemingly truthful, and her handling of the ...
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I was sorry to see that there were so few reviews. I started reading COAL and could not stop. The only thing I am going to say is that I wish ...
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The tragedy, the sorrow, the loss, is almost too much for me to recommend this; on the other hand Mistry made me believe I knew these characters. I ...
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Amazon 'buy button' rumors abound(Mar 18 2010) Rumors swirled today that Amazon could revoke the buy buttons for books by Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, or Hachette if the major publishers can't...
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Amazon's e-pricing threats(Mar 18 2010) With Apple's iPad launch just weeks away, Amazon raised the stakes again when it threatened to stop directly selling the books of some publishers online...
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26a
(members only, 372 words).
Publishers Weekly
The New York Times - Ligaya Mishan
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