nomadreader

The backstory: I've been eager to read Rosie Alison's debut novel, The Very Thought of You  since it was named to the Orange Prize shortlist this year. This book has been the surprise of the Orange Prize so far this year. When it made the longlist (a truly long list of twenty books), no newspaper had reviewed it. When it made the shortlist, it seemed the one the experts were most surprised to see there. I've read mixed reviews of it, but even those who liked the book seem baffled it made the shortlist. The basic plot details: The setting for the story is amazing. The book opens in London in  1939. The war is beginning, and the children are being evacuated to the English countryside, away from the assumed impending bombing of London. Parents cannot accompany their children. The story centers on Anna, who is eight. She boards a bus with other children, imagines she is going to live by the sea, and ends up at the sprawling Yorkshire estate of a childless couple. My thoug...

he Orange Prize, given to a work of fiction written by a woman in English, has announced its 2010 shortlist. It's a British prize, and a novel's eligibility is determined by its British publication date. The official announcement , including two excellent videos of the judges discussing the shortlist are available on its Web site. The shortlist:   The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver Black Water Rising by Attica Locke Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey My reactions to the shortlist: It's no surprise to see Wolf Hall on the list, but I am shocked Sarah Waters' Little Stranger did not make the shortlist. I am also surprised The Long Song by Andrea Levy did not make the list, but I'm still waiting on its U.S. release to read it. Three U.S. authors are among the six finalists: Barbara Kingsolver, Attica Locke and Lorrie Moore. The...