Philosophical and disarmingly dishy ... The meringue-light surface of The Maltese Version, which had thus far presented itself as a caper about two female friends trying to make it in the dying travel-guide industry, might conceal unforeseen depths ... Smith is an observant and dexterous writer ... A steely exploration of novelistic form and what said form can and cannot reveal. It’s a book that — for both its inventiveness and its many linguistic sleights of hand — can renew our faith in the playful joys and critical capacity of fiction.
A cheeky caper ... Smith can do whatever she wants, style-wise, and it’s going to turn out great ... Katy Simpson Smith just can’t help it: whether she’s writing a romance, a fantasy, a mystery or a thriller, the result is always going to be a fantastically complex, gorgeously written literary novel, and we are so lucky to get to read whatever it is she writes.
Smith offers unique characters within plots that showcase the wondrous, quirky, and occasionally disconcerting aspects of humanity ... Focusing a vigilant eye on women’s inner complexities, Smith presents a spirited, curious, and linguistically adept novel that should thrill armchair travelers and readers of intellectual literary fiction.
