RaveReadings (AU)This is a quiet novel of unquiet lives ... A subtle writer through and through, Gurnah does not rush to explain to you his purpose. As the layers of circumstance and meaning culminate, the wider picture slowly becomes clear, and is all the more impactful for how carefully he brings the reader to see it for themselves.
RaveReadings (AU)Not really a dystopian vision of the future, it is a clear-sighted lens on the present. There is a great deal of seriousness in this book, but its moments of humour, excitement and friendship are no less luminous for it. In fact, the dual existence of oppression and wonder is what makes each of those realities most real. This is a true novel of resistance – one that resets the creep of normalisation, and reminds us of the beauty that can exist in the world.
