Lifted, by Mandy Hager
Above everything else, this is a terrific story and very well told. It’s a bit of a parable and classic Mandy Hager which means as well as a damn good story, believable characters, heroes to root for and deep thinking, you get (but it wouldn’t work without all the rest), the Hager ethic, written from the heart with the belief that stories can change lives. Lifted really is next level.
Continue reading “Lifted, by Mandy Hager”The Animals in that Country, by Laura Jean McKay
Brilliant and intriguing book. And me someone who has avoided fantasy for decades. Don’t read the blurb about ‘talking animals’—this is not Dr Dolittle— read the excited hype from right across the review spectrum and watch the awards list grow.
Jean is an unlikely heroine. She’s a rough bit of work: a hard drinking, chain smoking, promiscuous, internet-troll of a grandmother who makes bad choices. Her colleague Andy is one, she calls him when she wants booze or sex. He’s ‘hairy and stringy, skin stretched over his big belly’ with a jealous boyfriend on the side. Jean’s love for her six-year-old granddaughter is her one redeeming feature, though I wouldn’t trust her to look after any child of mine.
Continue reading “The Animals in that Country – book review”
