In this example, the reviewer, Stephen Crabbe, has unravelled that long thread, both perceptively and elegantly.
By
Stephen Crabbe
on November 14, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition
To begin with, in case you make erroneous
assumptions based on the title, I should point out this is a story set
in modern Australia. An Israeli woman living in Australia writes a novel
about the Jewish settlers of the Gaza strip forced by Israel’s
government to leave the disputed territory that had been their home for a
long time. When the novel is published, this had not happened in fact;
years later, in 2006, it came to pass.
Reading the novel and watching television reports of the evictions, the narrator, Barbara, is reminded of events in her own life, with all their anguish, skirmishes and recriminations. And so begins a beautifully written tale that must strike a chord for many baby-boomers.
Ruth, the Israeli novelist, has a key relationship with the narrator which both triggers events and provides a thematic structure for the novel. The story follows Barbara from youth to her later years—romance, marriage, career, close friendships, children, grandchildren, births and deaths. It’s about how individuals relate to each other, how they respond to elemental facts of life, and how they are irreversibly changed in the process. For me it was a deeply emotional ride, not least because the author’s sharp understanding of various human frailties pushed me to reflect on their place in my own life.
There is nothing pretentious about this author’s prose. Vocabulary is plain but precise, syntax straightforward. It is so authentic that, within a couple of pages, the reader is putty in her hands and we have become Barbara, living her life.
As I reached the closing pages of Margaret Sutherland’s novel, I paused to survey all that she had taken me through, her quiet voice guiding with intelligence and strength.Read more ›
Reading the novel and watching television reports of the evictions, the narrator, Barbara, is reminded of events in her own life, with all their anguish, skirmishes and recriminations. And so begins a beautifully written tale that must strike a chord for many baby-boomers.
Ruth, the Israeli novelist, has a key relationship with the narrator which both triggers events and provides a thematic structure for the novel. The story follows Barbara from youth to her later years—romance, marriage, career, close friendships, children, grandchildren, births and deaths. It’s about how individuals relate to each other, how they respond to elemental facts of life, and how they are irreversibly changed in the process. For me it was a deeply emotional ride, not least because the author’s sharp understanding of various human frailties pushed me to reflect on their place in my own life.
There is nothing pretentious about this author’s prose. Vocabulary is plain but precise, syntax straightforward. It is so authentic that, within a couple of pages, the reader is putty in her hands and we have become Barbara, living her life.
As I reached the closing pages of Margaret Sutherland’s novel, I paused to survey all that she had taken me through, her quiet voice guiding with intelligence and strength.Read more ›
