Sunday 30 December 2018

Reviewing the Costa Novel Shortlist*

This post is a paid collaboration with Costa. All words, images and opinions are entirely my own.


This month I've been working with the Costa Book Awards to review the Novel shortlist ahead of the category winners announcement on the 7th January. I've spent the month reading the four shortlisted novels: The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman, The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, Normal People by Sally Rooney and From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan. I'm here today to give you my reviews and share my own prediction for the category winner.



The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman
A slow-building character-driven novel with a pacy plot towards the end, The Italian Teacher begins in Rome, 1955, at a party to celebrate Bear Bavinsky. Bear is an artist with a magnetic, larger-than-life personality who seduces everyone he meets. His tendency to burn any work he is not entirely happy with creates an air of mystique and grandeur around the surviving works - making him a cult figure in the art world. But this isn't Bear's story, it's his son's - Charles 'Pinch' Bavinsky. As we read from Pinch's perspective, we begin to see Bear as an egotistical nightmare of man, who doles out rare and limited affection to his many scattered children, which they crave like a drug. The Italian Teacher explores all kinds of toxic relationships, between father and son, man and woman, artist and art.

I really enjoyed Rachman's exploration of the art world. I don't read a lot of books about art and it's something I used to really love. I know a bit about famous twentieth century artists so the references peppered throughout were quite fun for me and it was really interesting to learn a bit about how the art world works. Rachman's reflections on the importance of status and character in the art world were really thought-provoking and I found the consideration of how we leave a mark on the world and others' lives really quite moving.

The main character, Pinch, is kind of unlikeable but that isn't a downfall for me. I don't mind feeling frustrated with a character or questioning their decisions as long as I can still empathise or connect in some way. I found myself growing fond of Pinch, despite his huge flaws, because I could see myself in parts of him. The Italian Teacher is a portrait of vulnerability, loneliness and compromise who makes the reader consider what makes a life well lived.



The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of the Trojan War from the women's perspective. It is historical fiction in a time that we see as so far removed from our own yet the fear and horror running through it unfortunately has such relevance today. The Silence of the Girls is brutal, it is about as far away from the romanticisation of Trojan war retellings as you can get. The women are slaves, prizes for the man who slaughtered their families. Their treatment is appalling and the book doesn't allow the reader to forget this. We read from the perspective of Briseis, whose city was sacked and family murdered by Achilles and the Myrmidons, who is then taken as slave and Achilles 'prize'.

I was a little surprised that Achilles had quite so many of his own chapters in a story that is conceptualised as being focused on the women. Achilles was presented as a complex character and humanised to an extent but his brutality and complicity in the enslavement of women was never shied away from. I did appreciate that Achilles was a fleshed out character with emotions rather than just being a one dimensional villain, this human aspect of him made his brutal actions more despicable. I also appreciated that Achilles' POV was told in third person to Briseis' first person. However, I do wish there was more of Briseis, what we got of her was so raw but her story felt a bit undeveloped. In a book focused on the women it is a little strange to feel like Achilles is the more developed character - but perhaps that's the point.



Normal People by Sally Rooney
Probably the most hyped book on the shortlist, Normal People is quite a stunning read. Sally Rooney's prose is stark, even harsh, in places, yet even as someone who loves lush description, I fell for this book. It's a love story without being a romance and is moving and frustrating in equal parts. It's about how the unsaid things can twist a relationship and the people within it. Rather than hook us in to root for the couple or entertain us with their romance, Normal People presents the raw truth of the youthful experience of a relationship, complete with awkwardness, awe, pain and external pressures. The emotions within are so accurately depicted; it's almost shocking.

An issue I had that I've not heard many speak about is that it felt like modern historical fiction rather than a current portrayal of youth. I think because the characters attended university between 2011 and 2014, the exact years I did, I was subconsciously comparing and their vastly different experience threw me off. This is most likely a fault with me rather than the book but I felt it had quite strong 80s/90s/early 2000s vibes rather than current day eg. they wrote each other lengthy emails, which wasn't really something we did in 2012. It's nitpicky, but it did throw me out of the story a little too often and therefore affected my feelings about the book.

Overall, Normal People is a compelling, emotionally jarring read that cuts to the core of human relationships.



From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan
This was my first time reading Donal Ryan's writing and I was absolutely blown away by it. The expression of emotion in his writing is beautiful and almost lyrical but feels raw and cuts deep. There were times when I was reading this that is almost painful and so real. From A Low and Quiet Sea is told from the perspective of three very different men whose stories crash together at the end in unexpected ways. Donal Ryan's command of structure and interweaving detail is excellent and so much is conveyed in less than 200 pages. Like the others on the shortlist, this is very much a character-driven novel, which I usually prefer anyway. Donal Ryan does weave story and plots together in such interesting ways but the stars of the show are the complex and vivid characters whose inner lives we come to know through exquisitely constructed sentences. From a Low and Quiet Sea reflects on empathy, familial strain and how the past echoes through the present. It was a real joy, and an ache, to read.

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So there we have it, my thoughts on all four books in the Novel category. Honestly, I think they are all fantastic in their own right so it's quite difficult to choose a winner. I have a feeling that Normal People may win because it's just been so hyped, but my personal winner is From a Low and Quiet Sea, it moved me the most and it's definitely made me want to pick up more of Donal Ryan's work.

The winners of each of the five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's, will be announced this coming Monday 7th January and the overall winner will be announced at the awards on Tuesday 29th January.

BLOGLOVIN | GOODREADS

*This post is part of a series of posts that are sponsored by Costa. All words and images are entirely my own and 100% honest.

Sunday 16 December 2018

My December TBR feat. Costa Book Awards 2018*

This post is a paid collaboration with Costa. All words, images and opinions are entirely my own.

We're well on our way into the festive season, expecting some snow flurries this week and the Christmas break is tantalisingly close - so what better time to curl up with a steaming mug of coffee and a good stack of books? This month I've got a very special selection of books picked out because I'm thrilled to once again be working with the lovely folks at Costa on the Costa Book Awards 2018!

The Costa Book Awards have been going since 1971 and the reason why I love these awards in particular is because they celebrate the most enjoyable books with a wide appeal, the books people really *want* to read, instead of feeling like they should read them. These awards are completely unpretentious, they just celebrate having a good time whilst reading - and I'm all about that!

The shortlisted books are all from authors living from in the UK or Ireland and are spread across five fantastic categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's, so there's something for every reader. I'm going to be reading the four shortlisted books in the Novels category before the category winners are announced on the 7th January - and I can't wait to get stuck in!

The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman
Beginning in Rome in 1955 we see the great modern painter Bear Bavinsky, surrounded by admirers, but this story is not his. It's his son, Pinch's. We follow Pinch over the course of his life as he attempts to live up to his great name but finds a life marred by twists, compromises and pain. Yet Pinch will enact an unexpected rebellion that will forever leave his mark upon the Bear Bavinsky legacy.

With Bohemian Rhapsody being my favourite film of the year, the 70s and 80s are periods I'm really keen to find out more about and this book starts in the mid-50s and spans the next thirty or so years so I'm really excited about that. I love stories that cover longer periods of time and this seems to be almost a Bildungsroman which is right up my street. Having studied and had a passion for art in the past, I'm also interested to read about the art world of this time period.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
When her city falls to the Greeks, Briseis's old life is shattered. She is transformed from queen to captive, from free woman to slave, awarded to the god-like warrior Achilles as a prize of war. And she's not alone. On the same day, and on many others in the course of a long and bitter war, innumerable women have been wrested from their homes and flung to the fighters. This novel seeks to break the silence of these forgotten women in history.

We learn about the Trojan War as children, but it is always a man's story. We don't hear of the women whose lives were torn apart. I think this one is going to be quite brutal but I'm definitely ready for it. I want to hear what these women's lives were like and hear them tell their story, even if it's heartbreaking. There's been a bit of a buzz about this one on booktube and Twitter so I'm keen to see if it lives up to the hype.


Normal People by Sally Rooney
Connell and Marianne have grown up in the same small town in Northern Ireland, but have led very different lives. Connell is popular where Marianne is an outcast. Connell's mother works as a cleaner for Marianne's family and when the two strike up a conversation one day, something that will forever change the fabric of their lives begins.

This is the only one of the shortlist which I've already read and I really enjoyed it, whilst also having a lot of complicated thoughts and feelings about it. I'm going to share my full thoughts in my review post but for now let's say that it's a love story without being a romance and it will suck you in completely.

From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan
Farouk’s country has been torn apart by war. Lampy’s heart has been laid waste by Chloe. John’s past torments him as he nears his end. From war-torn Syria to smalltown Ireland, three men, scarred by all they have loved and lost, are searching for some version of home. Each is drawn towards a powerful reckoning, one that will bring them together in the most unexpected of ways.

I've heard such great things about Donal Ryan's writing so I'm going into this with kind of high expectations but I'm sure it'll meet them. I love stories which bring several separate characters together in an interesting way and it seems like this is going to be an emotional story. I feel like I might need the tissues for this one!

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So there we have it, the four shortlisted books in the Novel category of the Costa Book Awards 2018. I'll be reading them over the next couple of weeks and putting up a review post with my prediction of the winner just before the announcement on the 7th of January. Keep an eye on my Instagram too for some snippets of reviews as I read them!

Which of these books are you most excited to read? Let me know in the comments!

BLOGLOVIN | GOODREADS

*This post is part of a series of posts that are sponsored by Costa. All words and images are entirely my own and 100% honest.

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