Clara Callan

One of the best Canadian novels of the millennium (so far!) When it was published in 2001, Clara Callan swept Canada’s book awards, including the Governor General’s Award and the Giller Prize (a feat I don’t think has been duplicated). No wonder. This novel is that rare thing: a literary page-turner.......more

I very much enjoyed this book. It mixes diary entries with letters in a hybrid epistolary novel, but does it very well. I complained because Jo Walton's Among Other was in a diary format but didn't use it as well as I would have liked. This is how to do it well. There is a narrative here, related by......more

FYI: This edition of the book actually has over 400 pages, Goodreads. I didn’t feel this was a strong novel. I wanted to like it (truly), but I just couldn’t care. The characters were largely underdeveloped on the page, and the forward motion was jumpy and jarring. The set-up was also poor with no re......more

I did enjoy this book. It was an easy, page turner that really didn't need any thinking about. Yet another book that I would never have picked up myself but was sent as a present. However I really struggle to see what the author was trying to convey in the novel. In many ways it seems haphazard and c......more