I was daunted by this book - 1,000 pages of one Ohio housewife's internal monologue, written as a single sentence (apart from a few pages of subplot about a mother cougar), it's not exactly a beach read. But once I took the plunge, and learnt to let the stream of consciousness wash over me, I became utterly immersed. Beneath the stylistic innovation, there's a surprisingly satisfying plot. It's also laugh-out-loud funny at times. It's not a book I'd recommend to all my friends - but I'd want to be friends with anyone who loved it as much as I did.
WINNER OF THE 2019 GOLDSMITHS PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BOOKER PRIZE • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2019 • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2019 • A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF 2019
"This book has its face pressed up against the pane of the present; its form mimics the way our minds move now toggling between tabs, between the needs of small children and aging parents, between news of ecological collapse and school shootings while somehow remembering to pay taxes and fold the laundry."―Parul Sehgal, New York Times
I love a big, meaty family story – and you know from the opening paragraphs of this novel that you’re going to be in for a treat. For me, the 650 pages flew by. It’s painful, funny, poignant, smart, atmospheric, brilliantly written, and I cared about all the (deeply flawed) characters. (Not sure about the ending though…)
WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023 WINNER OF AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024 SHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024 ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023
Book of the Year 2023 according to New York Times, New Yorker, The Sunday Times, The Economist, Observer, Guardian, Washington Post, Lit Hub, TIME magazine, Irish Times, The Oldie, Daily Mail, i Paper, Independent, The Standard, The Times, Kirkus, Daily Express, City A.M.
A reread for this one... it's as good as I remembered it. Jon McGregor writes so beautifully, turning ordinary people's everyday lives into something transcendent.
WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK AWARD WINNER OF THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
On a street in a town in the North of England, ordinary people are going through the motions of their everyday existence - street cricket, barbecues, painting windows... A young man is in love with a neighbour who does not even know his name. An old couple make their way up to the nearby bus stop. But then a terrible event shatters the quiet of the early summer evening. That this remarkable and horrific event is only poignant to those who saw…
The Lindens spans 150 years in the life of a house in the English countryside, weaving together the tales of its inhabitants over the decades. The dairymaid with big dreams, the lonely evacuee, the damaged army veteran and the ageing hippies. The loved-up teenagers partying on midsummer’s eve, the grown-up kids coming home for Christmas, the bored Slovakian housewife receiving some unexpected visitors.
Richly textured, funny and moving, this is an epic novel about home and family, love and loss. About birds and trees, vengeful goats, mushroom trips and anarcho-syndicalist rabbits. About the passage of time, the circling of the seasons and the forks in the paths of our lives.
