Into the Woods

One of the most imaginative and inventive novels I have read in the past five years is Susanna Clarke's Piranesi (2021). Winner of the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction, Clarke created a fantastical world in which Piranesi resides alone in a labyrinthine house, writing a journal of his days. Clarke's previous novel, published 17 years earlier, was the acclaimed Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell (2004). 

Clarke suffers from chronic fatigue and often finds it difficult to sustain her writing for periods of time. As such, fans of Clarke's writing have to wait a long time between novels. But sometimes she releases a short story to tide us over. 

Her latest work is The Wood at Midwinter (2024), a gorgeously illustrated short story, published as a slender hardcover. At just sixty pages, Clarke tells the story of Merowdis Scot, a nineteen-year-old mystical young woman. Merowdis is deeply connected to nature and can talk with animals. She is most at home in the woods, where her parents believe young ladies should not wander. Her supportive sister Ysolde drops her off one wintery morning at the wood gate, and leaves her to ramble with her dogs, Pretty and Amandier, and pet pig, Apple. As Merowdis and her pets  walk they chat with the animals they meet along the way - a fox, raven, - and the wood itself. Then they meet a darkly clad figure who makes Merowdis a promise about her future.  

The Wood at Midwinter is a very short story and can be read before your cup of tea goes cold! I was just starting to enjoy the world Clarke created when the story quickly came to an end. Indeed, I felt rather flat once the story finished, as if I had only read a teaser for a larger, more engrossing work. 

While I wanted more from the story, Victoria Sawdon's illustrations make this book truly delightful. Indeed, she should have been listed on the front cover, as her work is integral to the reading pleasure of this tale. 

Overall, I am happy have read The Wood at Midwinter, but wanted more from it. I understand Clarke is working on a new novel, set in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell. Fingers crossed we don't have to wait too long for it to be finished.

And so it begins

This year I entered the Elizabeth Strout universe by reading her most famous novel, Pulitzer Prize winning Olive Kitteridge (2008), followed by her most recent novel, Tell Me Everything (2024). I greatly enjoyed both novels and soon discovered that Strout has created a whole world of interlinked stories to explore. So, I have gone back to the start to where it all began, her debut novel.

Amy and Isabelle (1998) tells the story of a relationship between single mother and her teenage daughter over a long, hot summer in New England. Isabelle Goodrow lives in a tiny rental house at the edge of the town of Shirley Falls. She works at the local mill where she does not really know how to engage with her fellow workers, and has a secret longing for her boss. She is a devoted member of her congregation and a good soul. Isabelle longs for a social life of her own, yet has put all her energy into raising her daughter Amy. But there is tension in the house, with Amy and Isabelle unable to communicate and frustrations growing. Fortunately Isabelle has secured a summer job for Amy at the mill, so she can keep an eye on her daughter. 

We flashback to what has happened over the past few months, and how the two have drifted apart. Aged almost sixteen, Amy is thinking about being a teacher when she finishes high school. She spends much of her time hanging out with her best friend Stacy, secretly smoking cigarettes, and talking about Stacy's boyfriend. Amy is shy, hiding behind a mane of wavy blond hair. She has never had a boyfriend and has few friends, other than the rambunctious Stacy. 

The arrival of a substitute math teacher, Mr Robertson, has brought Amy out of her shell. She forms a crush on the married teacher which distracts her from her schoolwork and causes her to act out of character. As her relationship with Mr Robertson becomes closer, she begins lying to her mother about her whereabouts. Things reach a boiling point between Amy and Isabelle, when Amy's sexual secrets are discovered, and it is a hard road back for their relationship to recover.

Strout has an incredible ability to realistically portray the ordinary, mundane business of life - work, family, church, school. She dishes out the backstory of various characters in delicious morsels, building well rounded individuals that the reader cannot help but be intrigued by. I particularly loved the development of Isabelle's character - her attempts at self-development through reading, the befriending of colleagues at the mill, her fear of scandal, and the realisation that the object of her desire is not so desirable. 

I have met Isabelle Goodrow before, in Tell Me Everything, set decades after Amy and Isabelle, she is the bestfriend of Olive Kitteridge. In this later novel we find out more about what happened between the mother-daughter duo after the original story ended. 

Having now read three of Strout's novels, I completely understand her popularity and critical acclaim. I cannot wait to explore the other books in this series.

My reviews of other books by Elizabeth Strout are available on this blog:

• Olive Kitteridge (2008)
• Tell Me Everything (2024)

Booker Prize 2025 Predictions

The Booker Prize Longlist will be announced at the end of July. It has been a wonderful year for books, but always a challenge to predict which novels will be chosen for the longlist as the Booker is known for its surprises. 

To be eligible, the novel has to have been written in English and published in UK/Ireland between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. While I am not across when novels were published in UK/Ireland, I am going to take a guess at who might appear on the longlist. 

My predictions for the Booker longlist this year are:

1. 
   Michelle de Krester - Theory and Practice 
2. Adbulrakaz Gurnah - Theft
3. Alan Hollinghust - Our Evenings
4. Laila Lalami - The Dream Hotel
5. Melissa Lucashenko - Edenglassie
6. Roisin O'Donnell - Nesting
7. Torrey Peters - Stag Dance
8. Anthony Shapland - A Room Above a Shop
9. David Szalay - Flesh
10. Madeleine Thien - The Book of Records
11. Tim Winton - Juice
12. Nussaibah Younis - Fundamentally

I had to narrow down my list and lost Anne Tyler (Three Days in June) and Ian McEwan (What We Can Know) along the way. I know there is no way there will be three Australian authors on the list, but I am hoping that at least one of these three - de Krester, Lucashenko or Winton - make the cut. I have only read O'Donnell from my list but I am keen to read the Hollinghurst, Winton, Shapland and more. 

The judging panel this year consists of author Roddy Doyle (Booker winner in 1993), longlisted authors Ayobani Adebayo and Kiley Reid, actor Sarah Jessica Parker, and literary critic Chris Power. I can't wait to see what they came up with and how well I guessed.

The longlist will be announced on 29 July, followed by the shortlist on 23 September and the winner announcement in 10 November.