TBR: 1

   I have a few more books to add to the TBR pile, so (needs must) a quick word about each in turn.

   Anne Michaels' second novel, The Winter Vault, has just been published, but I have her first one here: Fugitive Pieces is a previous winner of the Orange Prize and the Guardian Fiction Award, and now a film.
   "Jakob Beer is seven years old when he is rescued from the muddy ruins of a buried village in Nazi-occupied Poland. Of his family, he is the only one who has survived. Under the guidance of Greek archaeologist Athos, Jakob must steel himself to excavate the horrors of his own history.
"A novel of astounding beauty and wisdom, [this] is a profound meditation on the resilience of the human spirit and love's ability to restore even the most damaged of hearts."

   The Spectator says of it, "Essential reading, both for its exceptional literary craft and for its exemplary and inspiring humanity", while The Independent on Sunday said " a powerful novel of history, loss, love and exile... It would not be easy to find a modern novel to match this one for line-by-line beauty".
    I am very much looking forward to reading it.

Comments

[Ruth]

Reading this book was rather like being away from civilisation on a retreat but I'm still not sure what to make of it. Carve yourself a giod chunk of really quiet time to read this.

[Simon T]

Oh, and I've just reviewed this too! Book and film.