S.J. Parris began reviewing books for national newspapers while she was reading English literature at Queens' College, Cambridge. After graduating, she went on to become Deputy Literary Editor of The Observer in 1999. She continues to work as a feature writer and critic for the Guardian and the Observer and from 2007-2008 she curated and produced the Talks and Debates program on issues in contemporary arts and politics at London's Soho Theatre. She has appeared as a panelist on various Radio Four shows and on BBC2's Newsnight Review, and is a regular chair and presenter at the Hay Festival and the National Theatre. She has been a judge for the Costa Biography Award, the Orange New Writing Award and the Perrier Comedy Award. She lives in the south of England with her son.
I selected an untitled book because I couldn’t find His Little Flower in the Goodreads portal, but I’m glad I ended up giving it a try—for the most part. The story was engaging and had me hooked, but it wasn’t without its flaws. While the plot felt original, it was a bit predictable at times. The typos? Absolutely distracting. Even rereading sections didn’t help provide context—I had to skip entire blocks of dialogue and narration because I couldn’t make sense of the text.
On top of that, there were several inconsistencies, making it clear the author could’ve used a second pair of eyes for editing. Still, the story had its moments, and I had a decent time with it overall. Worth a read if you can tolerate the chaos!