nomadreader

The backstory: The Hopeful  is Tracy O'Neill's debut novel. It was longlisted for the 2015 First Novel Prize and named a National Book Award 5 Under 35 pick. The basics:  "A figure skating prodigy, sixteen-year old Alivopro Doyle is one of a few "hopefuls" racing against nature's clock to try and jump and spin their way into the Olympics. But when a disastrous fall fractures two vertebrae, [it leaves] Ali addicted to painkillers and ultimately institutionalized." (publisher) My thoughts: The Hopeful  is one of those novels I love a little bit more because I discovered it through the First Novel prize longlist. Somehow, I'd never heard of it, even though it's fantastic, so I hope this review will introduce many more readers to it. Of course, while I was reading it, Fiona Maazel picked it as a National Book Award 5 Under 35 pick. That will probably help too. But back to The Hopeful  and why you should read it. On the surface, there...

The backstory: Eleven Days , the debut novel by Lea Carpenter, was longlisted for the 2014 Baileys Prize  and shortlisted for the 2013 Flaherty-Dunnan Prize . The basics: Set in May 2011, Sara's son Jason, part of an elite military unit, has been missing for nine days. Jason and his disappearance are national news. Carpenter tells the story in alternating voices of Sara, in 2011, and Jason, from the past. My thoughts: Carpenter immediately drew me into this novel and Sara's narrative. The writing is lush and emotional. When the narration shifts to Jason (and the past), I was intrigued. Soon, however, I found myself longing for more Sara and less Jason, or rather less Jason not seen through Sara's thoughts. Structurally, Jason's narration struck me as a functional and intellectual plot device. It lacked Sara's emotionally authentic, and thus more compelling, voice. Admittedly, this novel is the first one with a strong mother-son connection I've read since...

The backstory: Lamb  was longlisted for the 2013 Orange Prize  (soon-to-be-Bailey's) Women's Prize for Fiction and won the 2011 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize . The basics: Lamb  takes its title from David Lamb, a middle-aged man struggling with the end of his marriage and the death of his father. When he meets 11-year-old Tommie, an unpopular girl, the two strike up an unlikely friendship of sorts and embark on a road trip from Chicago to the Rocky Mountains. Tommie goes willingly, but she does not tell anyone when she does. My thoughts: Throughout Lamb , there is certainly an element of creepiness. It's more overt at some times than others, but the tension of innocence also permeates the novel. There are essentially four versions of the events in the novel: how Lamb sees things, how Tommie sees things, how Lamb explains  things to Tommie, and, lastly, how the reader combines all three of these narratives. The reader also gets glimpses from the omniscient n...