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Neale Lucas
Mar 6, 20193 min read
BOTTLED GOODS.
Right from the first chapter the reader is left with no doubt that this book is steeped in magical realism. Alina is on her way to bury...
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Neale Lucas
Mar 3, 20193 min read
THE HEART'S INVISIBLE FURIES.
Catherine, Cyril’s Mother, is sixteen and pregnant with him as the novel opens. She is called up to the alter by the priest. Catherine...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 20, 20193 min read
THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD.
The year 25 is referred to as The Year of the Flood. We are not told when or why the years have been reset. The flood is metaphorically...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 14, 20194 min read
ORYX AND CRAKE.
After reading the first few chapters the reader is left in no doubt that the setting described is a dystopian future where things have...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 11, 20192 min read
A LADDER TO THE SKY.
I n the second chapter the protagonist, Maurice Swift says, “I want to be a success. It’s all that matters to me. I’ll do whatever it...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 8, 20192 min read
THE EYE IN THE DOOR.
Billy Prior, who was a major character in the first book of the trilogy, Regeneration, now takes the reigns of the protagonist in the...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 5, 20192 min read
REGENERATION.
I am lost for words as to how good this novel is. To think that Barker, who was born in 1943 can write a novel which transports the...
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Neale Lucas
Feb 2, 20192 min read
THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING.
Antonio Yammara teaches law and spends his spare time playing billiards. It is at the club where he plays that he first meets Ricardo...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 30, 20192 min read
FLAMES.
Levi and Charlotte are not surprised when their mother returns from the dead a week after she has been cremated. The women of their...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 25, 20192 min read
CROOKED GROW THE TREES.
With the opening chapter we are introduced to an unnamed character who is obviously very troubled, and damaged. He hides away from the...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 24, 20193 min read
THE TRAUMA CLEANER.
In 1954 Robert was a clerical worker. He would spend his days working at The Royal Australian Air Force base in Braybrook. Then he would...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 20, 20194 min read
PACHINKO
I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading this amazing book. It's one of the best books I have read in quite a while....
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Neale Lucas
Jan 18, 20191 min read
DIARY OF A BOOKSHOP OWNER.
Being a true bibliophile, I have always loved books about bookshops and the book industry. Also, Black Books, the old tv series about a...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 16, 20193 min read
THE FISHERMEN.
When Benjamin’s father is transferred to the city for work, the strict discipline that he has enforced on Benjamin and his brothers...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 11, 20193 min read
RANSOM
Ransom is indeed a retelling of a part of The Iliad. It is one of the defining moments of the poem when Priam kneels and kisses Achilles...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 9, 20192 min read
SPEAK NO EVIL.
When Niru’s father finds out that his son is gay he explodes ballistically and slams Niru’s head into the wall. If not for the timely...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 7, 20192 min read
THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS.
With The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller gave the reader a glimpse of the world of Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, through the eyes of...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 6, 20192 min read
MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER.
This book is almost like a short story. The reader is thrown into the narrative knowing that Ayoola is a serial killer and has already...
15 views0 comments
Neale Lucas
Jan 4, 20192 min read
THE HOUSE OF BROKEN ANGELS
Big Angel, the patriarch of the De La Cruz family, while burying his mother. knows that his death will quickly follow as he is in the...
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Neale Lucas
Jan 4, 20192 min read
SO LUCKY
Mara is a fighter. Beaten up in a bar by two men when she was twenty-two, Mara decided then and there to never be a victim again. Never...
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