It’s been years since I read a book that strained the Likability Principle so viscerally ... This novel couldn’t be any more overwhelming if it came in a scratch ’n’ sniff edition ... The real artistry of Crooked Seeds lies in Jennings’s ability to make this story feel so propulsive ... Urgent.
Compelling, meditative ... The storytelling is strongest when the narrative introduces bits of Deidre’s past, so that we can piece together a clearer, if not complete, story, which includes the revelation of a daughter, tucked away in England.
There’s a stark quality to Jennings’s prose that is reminiscent of other South African writers ... No, this is not a 'feelgood' book, but it did make me feel good – feel joy, in fact, at its precise pursuit of its vision, at its grownup complexity and at the way Deidre is such a perfectly realised fictional creation ... Outstanding.
