FUGITIVE PIECES
2 journalers for this copy...
Jacket blurb: "In prose as multi-layered as the rock strata Athos excavates, and as richly metaphorical as poetry, Michaels explores her themes: memory, understanding, the passing on of wisdom, and the terror of the moments in history when time runs out...Gorgeous stories of adventure, escape and heroism stud the narrative...'Fugitive Pieces' is to relish and return to if you want imagery and ideas that are profound, sensual and complex."
As one of my favourite authors (Helen Dunmore) is, like Anne Michaels, an Orange prize-winner, and also a poet, I have high hopes for this novel...
As one of my favourite authors (Helen Dunmore) is, like Anne Michaels, an Orange prize-winner, and also a poet, I have high hopes for this novel...
"The afternoon heat was thick with burning flesh. I saw the smoke rising in whorls into the dark sky. Ambushed. memory cracking open. The bitter residue flying up into my face like ash."
Jakob's family are violently murdered by the German military. The young boy hiding in the cupboard is spared, and almost miraculously after days on the run, is smuggled to dafety by Greek scholar Athos. Under Athos' benign care, Jakob learns a deep love for his saviour and under hid tutelage absorbs his passion for knowledge and appreciation of the natural world. Together, they begin a new life together in Toronto, but Jakob's nightmares of the past do not cease nor does his sister's ghost recede.
After Athos' death it is time for Jakob to confront his ghosts. In the last third of the book I was surprised to find a new story intertwined, another 'fugitive piece', which adds another dimension to the novel.
The tone of this novel reminds me of Anne Holm's 'I Am David' while the prose is carefully considered, each word weighted to convey vivid imagery, and the effortless evocations of senses, smells, and emotions. Although I read this book within a day, it is not one to rush through, rather to savour.
Ready for release.
Jakob's family are violently murdered by the German military. The young boy hiding in the cupboard is spared, and almost miraculously after days on the run, is smuggled to dafety by Greek scholar Athos. Under Athos' benign care, Jakob learns a deep love for his saviour and under hid tutelage absorbs his passion for knowledge and appreciation of the natural world. Together, they begin a new life together in Toronto, but Jakob's nightmares of the past do not cease nor does his sister's ghost recede.
After Athos' death it is time for Jakob to confront his ghosts. In the last third of the book I was surprised to find a new story intertwined, another 'fugitive piece', which adds another dimension to the novel.
The tone of this novel reminds me of Anne Holm's 'I Am David' while the prose is carefully considered, each word weighted to convey vivid imagery, and the effortless evocations of senses, smells, and emotions. Although I read this book within a day, it is not one to rush through, rather to savour.
Ready for release.
On way to SwissToni as part of Secret Summer Solstice Santa... (Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!)
received with thanks. I'll confess to being ignorant of the author and of the book, and I look forward to discovering them as they come so highly recommended.
