Orange Prize 2011 Shortlist: Reviews
What did the critics make of the Orange Prize contenders? We’ve rounded up all the press reviews for the shortlisted books…
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>> | The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury)”Brilliant … You feel that what she is reaching for is economy of phrasing, aptness of imagery, exactness of description, and she achieves that perfectly.” Helon Habila, Guardian
“Extraordinary … to read The Memory of Love is to experience, not simply learn about, the inner existences of its characters” Anjali Joseph, TLS __________________________________________________ |
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>> | Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson (Sceptre)”Superb … Henderson dramatises shocking attitudes to mental illness … but her triumph lies in the fact that the reader begins to forget the heroine’s condition altogether.” David Evans, Independent on Sunday
“The language is tricksy, the subject disturbing. But this book is energetic, passionate and not easily forgotten.” Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times __________________________________________________ |
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>> | The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)”Obreht’s plaudits are entirely justified. This is a distinguished work by almost any standard, and a genuinely exciting debut.” Edmund Gordon, Sunday Times
“The Tiger’s Wife is a frisky tiger cub chasing its tail — it covers a lot of ground, growls a lot, and never quite gets there, but we have fun along the way.” Kapka Kassabova, Guardian __________________________________________________ |
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>> | Great House by Nicole Krauss (Viking)”There are some imperfections … but these are overcome by restrained and powerful writing … a smart, serious, sharply written novel of great care and yearning.” Patrick Ness, Guardian
“… where was her editor? Long, long sentences; repetitive incidents; no speech marks; endless recounting of dreams; ruthless excision of humour” Charlotte Moore, Spectator __________________________________________________ |
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>> | Annabel by Kathleen Winter (Jonathan Cape)”… an uplifting and humane exploration of love, parenthood, and all that determines who we become. Fans of both Anne Tyler and Alice Munro will want to take note.” Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail
“Annabel is a messy, overstuffed novel; what saves it from its many flaws is that it is far from being an unintelligent one.” Roz Kaveney, TLS __________________________________________________ |
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>> | Room and Windshield replacement houston by Emma Donoghue (Picador)”… as a life-affirming fable of parent-child love, and an antidote to the prurience of so much crime fiction, it’s a triumph, and deserves to be a hit.” Jonathan Gibb, Daily Telegraph
“Because the novel depends on his ability to express himself, Jack can’t lose it – or not without ruffling the book’s surface more than its author wants him to … Completely missing from the prose is any sense of panic, disorientation [or] depression” Susanna Rustin, Guardian |
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Read reviews for all the books on the Orange Prize 2011 longlist, including A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, The London Train by Tessa Hadley and The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna.
Read our roundups for the books on last year’s Orange Prize shortlist
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