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Quinn
* A New Statesman Most Anticipated Title for 2023 *
From an award-winning Scottish poet, an unforgettable novel about memory and radical forgiveness
How far would you go to overcome the limits of your own forgiveness?
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, who invites Quinn to share her home.
It soon becomes apparent that what appears to be a genuine act of forgiveness is influenced by more complex motivations. As they navigate the thorny terrain of guilt, justice and mutual need that underpins their relationship, the story of Quinn's past is gradually revealed, setting in motion a final reckoning.
Em Strang's first novel is a hypnotic rendering of an unravelling mind and a visceral story about the very limits of forgiveness.
From an award-winning Scottish poet, an unforgettable novel about memory and radical forgiveness
How far would you go to overcome the limits of your own forgiveness?
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, who invites Quinn to share her home.
It soon becomes apparent that what appears to be a genuine act of forgiveness is influenced by more complex motivations. As they navigate the thorny terrain of guilt, justice and mutual need that underpins their relationship, the story of Quinn's past is gradually revealed, setting in motion a final reckoning.
Em Strang's first novel is a hypnotic rendering of an unravelling mind and a visceral story about the very limits of forgiveness.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 2, 2023
15 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
February 26, 2023
Aaaahhh, Booker bait: The debut novel of a 52-year-old Scottish poet, written from the perspective of a convicted murderer who was raised in an abusive household and now encounters forgiveness by his victim's terminally ill mother. Of course the text also features all the good artsy stuff: Repetition of sentences to illustrate the mental traps and ruminations, we get animal metaphors (mutilated birds! the comfort of horses! the mythological swan!), surreal dreams, biblical references, symbols out of the natural world (lavender! mud! a pond!), you name it. Sounds a little contrived, you say, a little much? Well, I guess you're correct in my book, but then again, when I hear that the author started the novel out of a "movement practice", that already freaks me out (which is a statement about me, not about the author - you do you, Em Strang!).
And it's not like the novel doesn't work: We meet half-Polish protagonist Tomás Quinn in a jail cell - and he says that he is unsure what actually happened to his childhood sweetheart Andrea. Did he really murder her? Quinn receives a letter from Jennifer Holden (hello, To Kill A Mocking Bird - birds, again!), Andrea's dying, wheelchair-bound mother. She tells him that she decided to forgive him for her own sake and offers him early release if he agrees to become her caregiver. Quinn accepts and, under the eyes of a neighbor who fights his own demons, the two try to get to terms with their respective situations.
Strang, who did really work with prisoners, does a good job pondering Quinn's incomprehensible crime, she resists the urge to explain human nature and instead aims to illuminate the brokenness of her characters and how they try to fix themselves or at least accept their fate and/or failures (the author talked about Kintsugi in this context, which seems like an apt comparison to me). In the end though, the potentially captivating dynamics between Quinn and Jennifer are overshadowed by the excessive metaphorical developments centering around the pond and the animals in the garden - which is particularly irritating as the dynamics between the odd pair and the bitter neighbor is explored so much better.
While I applaud Strang's ambition, I also think this text is overwritten and underdeveloped, too reliant on imagery and unevenly paced (I also don't buy the whole "it's a long form poem and deserves different standards" argument: See The Long Take, a novel-length long-form poem that works as a poem AND as a novel). "Quinn" is a decent novel, sharp and oscillating at times, but very rocky and too superficial at others.
And it's not like the novel doesn't work: We meet half-Polish protagonist Tomás Quinn in a jail cell - and he says that he is unsure what actually happened to his childhood sweetheart Andrea. Did he really murder her? Quinn receives a letter from Jennifer Holden (hello, To Kill A Mocking Bird - birds, again!), Andrea's dying, wheelchair-bound mother. She tells him that she decided to forgive him for her own sake and offers him early release if he agrees to become her caregiver. Quinn accepts and, under the eyes of a neighbor who fights his own demons, the two try to get to terms with their respective situations.
Strang, who did really work with prisoners, does a good job pondering Quinn's incomprehensible crime, she resists the urge to explain human nature and instead aims to illuminate the brokenness of her characters and how they try to fix themselves or at least accept their fate and/or failures (the author talked about Kintsugi in this context, which seems like an apt comparison to me). In the end though, the potentially captivating dynamics between Quinn and Jennifer are overshadowed by the excessive metaphorical developments centering around the pond and the animals in the garden - which is particularly irritating as the dynamics between the odd pair and the bitter neighbor is explored so much better.
While I applaud Strang's ambition, I also think this text is overwritten and underdeveloped, too reliant on imagery and unevenly paced (I also don't buy the whole "it's a long form poem and deserves different standards" argument: See The Long Take, a novel-length long-form poem that works as a poem AND as a novel). "Quinn" is a decent novel, sharp and oscillating at times, but very rocky and too superficial at others.
February 25, 2023
‘This isn’t an act of disloyalty to Andrea. It’s an act of freedom for myself–at least that’s what I hope it is. I want to make peace with what I can’t change. Do you understand?’ I did not understand but nodded. Some things are beyond the mind’s understanding.
Quinn is the debut novel by poet Em Strang and was originally short-listed for the Fitzcarraldo Novel Prize. Published Jacques Testard subsequently introduced the author to an agent who eventually sold this to Oneworld, and my thanks to them for this ARC via Netgalley.
As well as recalling it from the Fitzcarraldo Prize I was attracted to it by an interview in the Guardian, in particular this welcome comment (the 196 pages are also generously spaced):
The novel draws on the author's experience as a creative writing tutor in the prison system, as the author explained when Oneworld won an auction for the rights:
And her dedication includes thanks "to all the incarcerated men I have worked with since 2013."
It also builds on Marina Cantacuzino’s work with the Forgiveness Project, although the novel, bravely, approaches the topic from the first-person perspective of a male offender, the murderer of a young woman.
The novel opens (the heading "The sound of a woman praying" featuring in every chapter)
PART I
The sound of a woman praying
1.
Things have been done that hurt the mouth to speak of. Let it be known that I have suffered. I was familiar with suffering in the way only some men are–it was in my blood. It was as though my ancestors had passed suffering on as a gift. A gift in dark blue, almost black wrapping paper that smelt of tar.
Our narrator is Tomek Quinn, who prefers to be known just my his last name, son of a Polish mother and Irish father, and in prison for the murder of a young woman, Andrea, his neighbour and close friend since childhood.
Quinn's narrative, told in a unique, almost biblical voice, rather fractures time and place, his memories, imaginings and present reality overlayed. And he, in his mind, is falsely imprisoned and desperate to leave his cell to find his missing friend:
I stared at my plate, my hands in my lap. I did not want those words, as I knew they required the utmost patience of me, and it became clear, for the briefest moment, why I had been forced to become both master and servant of waiting. I knew how to wait. Nobody could tell me anything about waiting. It had become a deep art, a practice that I had been forcibly immersed in. It was like I had become waiting itself; I had stepped into the brick and cement clothing of waiting. It barely shifted on me and never creased. I could not be folded away neatly. Wait-bearer.
Andrea's mother, Jennifer, whose has also known Quinn since he was a child, has been writing to him, initially her letters full of bitter recriminations but her final letter contains an unexpected invitation: with Quinn approaching parole eligibilty, Jennifer, who is terminally ill and with no daughter left to look after her, invites Quinn to become her live-in carer:
These past six years have been a long and horrific journey. I’ve never hated a human being as much as I’ve hated you. You took away the one person in my life I loved beyond all others. I miss her every day, think about her every day. I’ve cried so much my head still hasn’t stopped aching. I thought I was going to die of heartache and I wanted to die. You’ll have read of the many days that I’ve cursed you. I can’t pretend that there aren’t still times I wish you dead. But as the years have passed and grief has emptied me, I’ve come to realise–slowly and with a fierce reluctance–that there’s only one means to truly heal the pain and loss that you’ve brought to my life: somehow I have to find a way to forgive you. God help me!
(or at least that is what happens in the account Quinn gives us)
The story that unfold is darkly beautiful, dislocating but poetic, and one where Quinn is drawn gradually to a reckoning for what he did.
Impressive and a strong contender for literary prizes.
Quinn is the debut novel by poet Em Strang and was originally short-listed for the Fitzcarraldo Novel Prize. Published Jacques Testard subsequently introduced the author to an agent who eventually sold this to Oneworld, and my thanks to them for this ARC via Netgalley.
As well as recalling it from the Fitzcarraldo Prize I was attracted to it by an interview in the Guardian, in particular this welcome comment (the 196 pages are also generously spaced):
Q: Quinn is just 196 pages long. Is that down to the poet it in you?
A: I think so. I just so love concision and I can’t stand waffling on. In a way, Quinn is a long-form poem. The fiction that I read and love is all short – so Claire Keegan’s work, Cynan Jones’s and Sadegh Hedayat, the Iranian writer’s. It’s an intense experience to read a short novel.
The novel draws on the author's experience as a creative writing tutor in the prison system, as the author explained when Oneworld won an auction for the rights:
I’ve spent a decade working with long-term prisoners in Scotland, trying to understand and come to terms with notions of justice and responsibility: does guilt begin and end with the perpetrator of a violent act or are we all in some way culpable? It’s been a difficult book to write, not least because it focuses on male violence towards women – such a pressing issue of our times – and tries to treat Quinn as a whole person, rather than neatly labelling him. Sitting with that broader perspective has been profoundly unsettling, but necessary: how else can we arrive at a place where restorative justice might be possible?
And her dedication includes thanks "to all the incarcerated men I have worked with since 2013."
It also builds on Marina Cantacuzino’s work with the Forgiveness Project, although the novel, bravely, approaches the topic from the first-person perspective of a male offender, the murderer of a young woman.
The novel opens (the heading "The sound of a woman praying" featuring in every chapter)
PART I
The sound of a woman praying
1.
Things have been done that hurt the mouth to speak of. Let it be known that I have suffered. I was familiar with suffering in the way only some men are–it was in my blood. It was as though my ancestors had passed suffering on as a gift. A gift in dark blue, almost black wrapping paper that smelt of tar.
Our narrator is Tomek Quinn, who prefers to be known just my his last name, son of a Polish mother and Irish father, and in prison for the murder of a young woman, Andrea, his neighbour and close friend since childhood.
Quinn's narrative, told in a unique, almost biblical voice, rather fractures time and place, his memories, imaginings and present reality overlayed. And he, in his mind, is falsely imprisoned and desperate to leave his cell to find his missing friend:
I stared at my plate, my hands in my lap. I did not want those words, as I knew they required the utmost patience of me, and it became clear, for the briefest moment, why I had been forced to become both master and servant of waiting. I knew how to wait. Nobody could tell me anything about waiting. It had become a deep art, a practice that I had been forcibly immersed in. It was like I had become waiting itself; I had stepped into the brick and cement clothing of waiting. It barely shifted on me and never creased. I could not be folded away neatly. Wait-bearer.
Andrea's mother, Jennifer, whose has also known Quinn since he was a child, has been writing to him, initially her letters full of bitter recriminations but her final letter contains an unexpected invitation: with Quinn approaching parole eligibilty, Jennifer, who is terminally ill and with no daughter left to look after her, invites Quinn to become her live-in carer:
These past six years have been a long and horrific journey. I’ve never hated a human being as much as I’ve hated you. You took away the one person in my life I loved beyond all others. I miss her every day, think about her every day. I’ve cried so much my head still hasn’t stopped aching. I thought I was going to die of heartache and I wanted to die. You’ll have read of the many days that I’ve cursed you. I can’t pretend that there aren’t still times I wish you dead. But as the years have passed and grief has emptied me, I’ve come to realise–slowly and with a fierce reluctance–that there’s only one means to truly heal the pain and loss that you’ve brought to my life: somehow I have to find a way to forgive you. God help me!
(or at least that is what happens in the account Quinn gives us)
The story that unfold is darkly beautiful, dislocating but poetic, and one where Quinn is drawn gradually to a reckoning for what he did.
Impressive and a strong contender for literary prizes.
April 9, 2023
This is a refreshingly strange and quite distinctive take on what could otherwise be a run-of-the-mill crime story.
The eponymous Quinn is in the first part of the piece narrating from prison. He is convinced of his innocence in the murder of a young woman, Andrea, for which he has been convicted, though we have no detail of the crime. He has been receiving letters from the mother of the girl, who is now, years after, terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair. The letters are initially filled with hatred, but soften as over the years until she reaches a stage of forgiveness.
Quinn eventually gets parole, released into the care of the mother, for whom he is to act as carer.
Quinn’s account frequently raises doubt in its accuracy. In his solitary cell hours he convinces himself that Andrea is alive, and will return soon, and everyone will apologise to him. In the outdoor exercise area he is attacked by three crows.
This is a superb novel about forgiveness and redemption, with the astute Strang aware that readers are searching for signs of predictability, and continually wrong-footing them. She keeps us within Quinn’s fraught mind, just keeping us from condemning him, dispersing doubt liberally.
She avoids any linearity to the narrative, and it’s no surprise to learn that previously she has primarily been a poet.
Paragraphs are preceded by line breaks, which are surprisingly effective in making us read more slowly, with more attention.
Strang worked herself in the Scottish prison service for several years, which again comes as no surprise, such is her skill in the descriptions in the first part of the novel.
This is an extremely accomplished first novel and announces Em Strang as young talent with a hugely exciting future.
The eponymous Quinn is in the first part of the piece narrating from prison. He is convinced of his innocence in the murder of a young woman, Andrea, for which he has been convicted, though we have no detail of the crime. He has been receiving letters from the mother of the girl, who is now, years after, terminally ill and confined to a wheelchair. The letters are initially filled with hatred, but soften as over the years until she reaches a stage of forgiveness.
Quinn eventually gets parole, released into the care of the mother, for whom he is to act as carer.
Quinn’s account frequently raises doubt in its accuracy. In his solitary cell hours he convinces himself that Andrea is alive, and will return soon, and everyone will apologise to him. In the outdoor exercise area he is attacked by three crows.
This is a superb novel about forgiveness and redemption, with the astute Strang aware that readers are searching for signs of predictability, and continually wrong-footing them. She keeps us within Quinn’s fraught mind, just keeping us from condemning him, dispersing doubt liberally.
She avoids any linearity to the narrative, and it’s no surprise to learn that previously she has primarily been a poet.
Paragraphs are preceded by line breaks, which are surprisingly effective in making us read more slowly, with more attention.
Strang worked herself in the Scottish prison service for several years, which again comes as no surprise, such is her skill in the descriptions in the first part of the novel.
This is an extremely accomplished first novel and announces Em Strang as young talent with a hugely exciting future.
August 4, 2024
This strange novel is short and poetically written while containing extremely dark subject matter. We spend time in the head of Quinn, a man imprisoned for murder in Ireland. He is mentally unstable and does not believe his victim (a woman he knew for many years) is dead. The deceased’s mother decides to do something very unusual, and Quinn ends up living with her. The author is a poet, and it shows in her writing. This is her debut novel. Strang is clearly a talented writer, but I did not enjoy reading this book. There is too much disturbing content for my taste. I can take disturbing material if it is occasionally offset by something positive, but there is little hope or optimism to be found here. It includes the deaths of many animals, but thankfully, the death of the victim is only indirectly described. It attempts to address the theme of forgiveness, but it does not quite work. I think I need to create a shelf for “misery” books.
September 25, 2024
2.5 ⭐️
i fear i am too silly stupid for this book. the premise sounded really interesting but i couldn’t get out of it the exploration of such complex characters and dynamics because of the writing style.
this is most likely just a failing in my part though - it was beautifully written but it’s been a hot minute since higher english so i’m not in the analysis of symbols/metaphors etc mode
i fear i am too silly stupid for this book. the premise sounded really interesting but i couldn’t get out of it the exploration of such complex characters and dynamics because of the writing style.
this is most likely just a failing in my part though - it was beautifully written but it’s been a hot minute since higher english so i’m not in the analysis of symbols/metaphors etc mode
September 9, 2023
This book has some beautiful chapters with good prose.
Sadly the story does not manage to become whole, as the unreliable narrator, overuse of fantastic/dreamlike elements as well as the endless repetitions pull the story in different and incoherent directions.
Sadly the story does not manage to become whole, as the unreliable narrator, overuse of fantastic/dreamlike elements as well as the endless repetitions pull the story in different and incoherent directions.
June 16, 2024
Beautifully written, strange, echoing motifs. Full of sadness.
July 30, 2023
Creepy and sad, owing something to Kafka but only just a hint.
April 2, 2024
Very moving story about forgiveness
May 14, 2024
A bit confusing because of the writing style, which is really beautiful, but sometimes hard.
September 2, 2024
Nah :/
May 9, 2023
Not quite sure what the point of this book is. It was poncey.
November 15, 2023
If I have to read the words 'dark blue almost black' ever again I am going to scream.
Had potential but the end was annoying too, otherwise it would have been a 3.
Had potential but the end was annoying too, otherwise it would have been a 3.
February 28, 2023
Quinn by Em Strang
Publication date: 2 March 2023
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~~~~~
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, Jennifer, who invites Quinn to share her home.
~~~~~
What a strange little book that was. It's difficult to review as it doesn't have a plot as such, but the writing really carried me through.
The author is a poet, and this is very obvious in the cadence and lyricism of the prose. The story is told from Quinn's point of view and it is clear that he is someone who is deeply unwell, both mentally and physically. He suffers from vivid, scary and sometimes gruesome hallucinations, which means that on some occasions it's difficult to judge if something is really happening or if we are trapped in Quinn's mind.
Sentences, or even paragraphs, are repeated several times throughout the story, like the chorus of a song, and this adds to the confusion of Quinn's narration.
I actually wish the book had been longer and had delved deeper in the relationship between Quinn and Jennifer, and had spent a little more time with them both once Quinn starts caring for her as it is such an important and fascinating aspect of the story.
There is no resolution, there is no clear ending and a lot of the questions that I had as a reader were not answered and I didn't particularly mind that, but this is something to be aware of if you like neat and tidy endings; this is not that kind of book.
Publication date: 2 March 2023
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~~~~~
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, Jennifer, who invites Quinn to share her home.
~~~~~
What a strange little book that was. It's difficult to review as it doesn't have a plot as such, but the writing really carried me through.
The author is a poet, and this is very obvious in the cadence and lyricism of the prose. The story is told from Quinn's point of view and it is clear that he is someone who is deeply unwell, both mentally and physically. He suffers from vivid, scary and sometimes gruesome hallucinations, which means that on some occasions it's difficult to judge if something is really happening or if we are trapped in Quinn's mind.
Sentences, or even paragraphs, are repeated several times throughout the story, like the chorus of a song, and this adds to the confusion of Quinn's narration.
I actually wish the book had been longer and had delved deeper in the relationship between Quinn and Jennifer, and had spent a little more time with them both once Quinn starts caring for her as it is such an important and fascinating aspect of the story.
There is no resolution, there is no clear ending and a lot of the questions that I had as a reader were not answered and I didn't particularly mind that, but this is something to be aware of if you like neat and tidy endings; this is not that kind of book.
June 13, 2024
Quinn by Em Strang takes you inside the mind of a man imprisoned for a crime he has no memory of committing. All he's certain of is that locating his best friend, Andrea, will be the ticket to clearing his name. So when her mom extends an invitation for him to stay at her place as her caretaker, he jumps on the chance, he is released from his cell and embarks on a quest to track down Andrea.
Unreliable narrators are not for me. I've definitely said this before but this book really cemented it for me. You can tell almost from the first moments that our boy Quinn is not mentally well. As his story begins to unwind through the twists and turns of his mind you can't help wonder if you are starting to go a little crazy yourself. Em Strang's writing is absolutely incredible. She honestly had me questioning my own sanity at times, this book was for lack of a better word, uncomfortable. I originally rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because of my level of comfort. This isn't a character whose mind or world I at all wanted to be in, but I think that was the goal here. I am going to stick to my rating because this wasn't the best book for me, even though I definitely can see the value in it. If you enjoy unreliable characters and being kicked head first out of your comfort zone than this would probably be a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for you.
Unreliable narrators are not for me. I've definitely said this before but this book really cemented it for me. You can tell almost from the first moments that our boy Quinn is not mentally well. As his story begins to unwind through the twists and turns of his mind you can't help wonder if you are starting to go a little crazy yourself. Em Strang's writing is absolutely incredible. She honestly had me questioning my own sanity at times, this book was for lack of a better word, uncomfortable. I originally rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because of my level of comfort. This isn't a character whose mind or world I at all wanted to be in, but I think that was the goal here. I am going to stick to my rating because this wasn't the best book for me, even though I definitely can see the value in it. If you enjoy unreliable characters and being kicked head first out of your comfort zone than this would probably be a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for you.
April 18, 2023
I don’t know how to forgive you, but I’m finally prepared to try. I’m not sure what that means, except that this forgiveness is for me, not you. There’s something in it that seems to relieve me, a kind of letting go, I suppose – not of the pain, but of the constant replay of the pain. Without some kind of forgiveness, you’re a cancer festering inside me and I refuse to be held to ransom like this for the rest of my life. Bitterness and anger make for a sordid, barbaric life, as you must surely understand. I refuse to turn into the kind of person that Andrea would not have liked. It would feel too much like betrayal.
The author of the novel is a poet, novelist, workshop facilitator and Creative Writing Teacher, most noticeably and relevantly for this novel at Dumfries Prison – which is what lead her to this examination of “incarceration, male violence and radical forgiveness”. She has been writing the novel since 2019 and it was shortlisted (as a work in progress) for the 2019 Fitzcarraldo First Novel Prize, before being picked up for 2023 publication by Oneworld.
In form it is both short (less than 200 generously spaced pages), image filled and fragmentary – partly a long form poem although the author has said she preferred the novel form as “I tend to use poetry as a vehicle for exploring love, in particular spiritual love and [this novel is] to do with evil and excavating the masculine psyche in relation to violence”.
It is narrated by (Tomek) Quinn of mixed Irish/Polish parentage, and who is, we realise, serving a lengthy prison sentence for the murder of a girl Andrea who has been his friend, sweetheart and near-neighbour since he was 5-6 years old. Quinn himself though seems convinced Andrea is just missing although we quickly realise that his grasp on linear reality is as tenuous as his narrative voice is fractured.
At some point Quinn receives and ultimately reads a series of long handwritten letters from Andrea’s mother Jennifer. Written over a period of six years, they are for the most part blazingly accusatory – telling of her pain and hurt at the loss of Andrea (who was not just her beloved daughter but also her full time carer) and resulting hatred and cursing of Quinn. The last letter though tells of her realisation “slowly and with fierce reluctance – that there’s only one means to truly heal the pain and loss that you have bought to my life: somehow I have to find a way to forgive you. God help me!” and proposes the radical step, which she has agreed with the Parole Board, of Quinn being released to act as her live-in carer.
At least in Quinn‘s narrative this takes place (I was unclear if it did in reality) and Quinn goes to live with Jennifer, having to come to terms with the weight of what it is that Jennifer has offered him and whether he can accept her mercy and achieve some form of redemption.
But at the same time he immediately comes under the cynical suspicion of her neighbour Farah and ultimately things unravel.
It is not for me to say what any of this means. I am caught between suffering and surviving, and I cannot imagine it to be otherwise. All I know is that once the pond had been lined and filled, and the wire fence between Jennifer’s garden and Farah’s repaired, a series of events took place that unravelled every story ever told about injustice. It was as though a violent curse landed with the ducks on the pond.
Quinn ends where he begins – back in prison although perhaps closer to understanding his own actions and starting to come to terms with the consequences of them for him and for others.
Many phrases and images occur time and time again in the spiralling narrative.
As per her website, the author’s “writing preoccupations are with nature (birds and horses feature in almost all my poems) and spirituality”- and images and references to white swans (and their feathers) and to horses (“As a child I had been able to look at a horse and know gladness deep inside me. Something about the shape and the breath and the presence of the animal told me that life was good, that my body was worthy, that my heart was beating for a reason”) are integral to the text. Lavender is also key.
Recurring phrases include “Let it be know that I have suffered”, “My small extra bone tapped and ticked”, “Things have been done that hurt the mouth to speak of” and “Five years passed, or the sun and the moon had tricked me”
The book is also influenced by biblical quotes quoted (often out of context) to Quinn by his mother.
And one recurring passage with a series of striking images (see my closing quote) must, the reader feels, relate to the point of Andrea’s death.
Overall, this was a distinctive and striking novel – but I was unclear that its form was solid enough to bear the weight of its important, but difficult, themes.
But any book which starts to understand the fundamental importance of forgiveness is one to at least recommend.
My thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC via NetGalley
The woods were darker than I remembered and dense. Daylight had not yet fully penetrated the crisscross of branches and the place felt inert, more plantation than woodland. Birds were calling – tits, wood pigeons – and everything was wet from recent rain. As I stepped forwards, mud and leaves reluctantly let go of my boots. There was something erotic about it. I understood about mud and reluctance and rain.
I headed straight for the silver birch, our tree. The sun was beginning to shine between clouds, and the bark glowed. One white incisor in a forest of teeth – that’s what Andrea called it. She was bound to be somewhere near here. This was where we met on Fridays, after she had finished with her mother and I had completed the week’s story. A single silver birch in the middle of larch and pine, and the big car-wash brushes of spruce.
February 20, 2023
I'll admit I fee like I'm missing something with this one, although it seems like it should be just my thing. The spare prose rolls with a continuous ease, but I couldn't always connect with it. I'm not surprised that Strang's a poet -- her writing's concerned with language, and she develops mood and sound very well.
I wish the characters broke through the restrained narration more (I expected more of the effect that, say, Carver has, given the tight use of language and the importance of what remains unsaid). Since they don't, the emotional weight of the story is lessened. Strang pushes gently into issues of trauma, justice, and forgiveness, but I never quite felt as much as I would have liked to in this book. It feels like a near-miss for me, but still good and enjoyable, and I won't be surprised if people end up loving this one and I just have to shrug.
[Based on an Edelweiss review copy]
I wish the characters broke through the restrained narration more (I expected more of the effect that, say, Carver has, given the tight use of language and the importance of what remains unsaid). Since they don't, the emotional weight of the story is lessened. Strang pushes gently into issues of trauma, justice, and forgiveness, but I never quite felt as much as I would have liked to in this book. It feels like a near-miss for me, but still good and enjoyable, and I won't be surprised if people end up loving this one and I just have to shrug.
[Based on an Edelweiss review copy]
February 26, 2023
A prisoner is serving a sentence for a murder he believes he hasn't committed, and when the woman is found he will be released - so he thinks. He spends his days in a surreal world of repetition, bizarre sightings and disturbing dreams.
The story is told in his distinctive voice, a narrative of his unaccountability, distorted memory and the pain these bring him. Symbols and motifs repeat often, with poetic frequency - like the passing of time, sunrise, the dark blue colour, almost black, and 'I have done nothing wrong.' As part of his parole and to come to terms with what he did, he moves in with the murdered woman's disabled mother to act as her carer at her request. Their relationship is complex and surrounded by more symbolism and lots of death.
A strange and unusual short book, more poem than novel, that looks at the power of the mind when dealing with trauma. Original, abstract and very unsettling.
The story is told in his distinctive voice, a narrative of his unaccountability, distorted memory and the pain these bring him. Symbols and motifs repeat often, with poetic frequency - like the passing of time, sunrise, the dark blue colour, almost black, and 'I have done nothing wrong.' As part of his parole and to come to terms with what he did, he moves in with the murdered woman's disabled mother to act as her carer at her request. Their relationship is complex and surrounded by more symbolism and lots of death.
A strange and unusual short book, more poem than novel, that looks at the power of the mind when dealing with trauma. Original, abstract and very unsettling.
April 25, 2025
"Five years passed, or the sun and the moon had tricked me."
"But how do you convince People of the truth when the lie is more comfortable, more acceptable to the fearfull mind?"
This is not my normal read; I have no clue about poetics.
Compared to the books I usually read, this would have probably been lower rated for me, but the poetical sense this book has and how it made me feel, let me believe I have to rate it without comparing it to 'simple fantasy books.'
it's definitely a 3.5-4 Stars and had some quotes and symbols I really liked. The Audiobook was amazing, and I will have to read my Hardcover Version of it again at some point.
The recurring themes of colors and phrases are incredible.
"But how do you convince People of the truth when the lie is more comfortable, more acceptable to the fearfull mind?"
This is not my normal read; I have no clue about poetics.
Compared to the books I usually read, this would have probably been lower rated for me, but the poetical sense this book has and how it made me feel, let me believe I have to rate it without comparing it to 'simple fantasy books.'
it's definitely a 3.5-4 Stars and had some quotes and symbols I really liked. The Audiobook was amazing, and I will have to read my Hardcover Version of it again at some point.
The recurring themes of colors and phrases are incredible.
March 11, 2023
"Things have been done that hurt the mouth to speak of"
An hallucinated trip down the unravelling mind of a Quinn, who is serving a life sentence for killing his fiance Andrea, whose aging mother ends up forgiving him asking that he takes care of her as Andrea did. One feels immediately that the book is written by a poet. With a focus on forgiveness and repair (kintsugi, as the author puts it ia a Guardian interview), sustained by repetition and beautiful, powerful metaphorical images and written in a sparse, condensed language it is a strong read that treats the theme in an original way. Maybe less fragmentariness would have been of benefit, still a great book.
An hallucinated trip down the unravelling mind of a Quinn, who is serving a life sentence for killing his fiance Andrea, whose aging mother ends up forgiving him asking that he takes care of her as Andrea did. One feels immediately that the book is written by a poet. With a focus on forgiveness and repair (kintsugi, as the author puts it ia a Guardian interview), sustained by repetition and beautiful, powerful metaphorical images and written in a sparse, condensed language it is a strong read that treats the theme in an original way. Maybe less fragmentariness would have been of benefit, still a great book.
July 17, 2024
Well this was definitely an odd one. The first third of the book starts with the protagonist (it's written in 1st person) having hallucinations and not a clear sense of events. Luckily there is somewhat more of a coherent storyline in the rest of the book. That being said you can definitely tell this was written by a poet not a novelist and there are many repeated lines and even paragraphs. It's all metaphors and poetry and very little plot, frankly not my favorite style to read. I didn't hate reading it, and it was short so finished it quickly so I'll give it three stars, but I likely won't be reading this again.
September 1, 2024
This is not necessarily my genre of book - I never quite understand lyrical writing. But this one is way easier to understand than Samuel Beckett's The Unnamable, whilst still having some concepts in common. Having read it, I think I totally missed the point of The Boy With the Bird In His Chest by Emme Lund. Guess I'm not much of a bird as metaphor person either.
I enjoyed this book. The lyrical quality extends to words and ideas repeating until the book is almost a song and when you are through with it there's a sense of meaning and purpose not quite within my reach, but still tantalising.
I enjoyed this book. The lyrical quality extends to words and ideas repeating until the book is almost a song and when you are through with it there's a sense of meaning and purpose not quite within my reach, but still tantalising.
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October 23, 2023Not rating because I zoned out so much I wouldn't make it justice. Maybe it was too pretentious for me or I just couldn't get invested in the story.
I also have a bias of not really enjoying fiction books where the author is very different from the protagonist, in this case a Scottish poet writing about a Polish man convicted of a murdered. I know that is the case in most fiction books hence bias, hence not rating.
Someone called it booker prize bait, a lot of the books I read this year felt like booker prize bait to me.
I also have a bias of not really enjoying fiction books where the author is very different from the protagonist, in this case a Scottish poet writing about a Polish man convicted of a murdered. I know that is the case in most fiction books hence bias, hence not rating.
Someone called it booker prize bait, a lot of the books I read this year felt like booker prize bait to me.
January 14, 2024
Take a crime novel where an innocent person jailed for their partner's murder is taken in by their partner's mum in exchange for helping care for her as she dies BUT make it completely unclear re: the crime, if he did it, any narrative structure
Book pros: honestly an INSANE writing style. It's super unclear whether the main character has a thought disorder or has just been Unravelled by jail, which only adds to a scattered (in a good way!!!) reading experience
Book cons: a dog dies and I'm sad about it. Also I am desperate to know any crumb of details about whether the dude did it or not
Book pros: honestly an INSANE writing style. It's super unclear whether the main character has a thought disorder or has just been Unravelled by jail, which only adds to a scattered (in a good way!!!) reading experience
Book cons: a dog dies and I'm sad about it. Also I am desperate to know any crumb of details about whether the dude did it or not
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2024
When an award-winning poet tackles her first narrative piece, it is bound to be compelling and surreal. There are some beautiful moments... but, just like the character's fracturing mind, the story unfolds in pieces--ramblings of an unreliable narrator coming to terms with his actions and life. In the end, those pieces struggled to feel whole, and although I enjoyed it, I was left a little unfulfilled. I am genuinely looking forward to what Em Strang does next.
February 28, 2023
It's like a long poem in prose, not an easy read but a riveting one that I found enthralling. A short story but full of emotions, important topics like forgivness and guilt or memory.
It talks to to your heart and it's hard to forget.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
It talks to to your heart and it's hard to forget.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine
July 30, 2023
Beautifully written and interesting in many ways - but too strong on symbolism and imagery for me + too many questions unanswered at the end. The best part is Quinn's stay with Jennifer; would have been great to see a deeper and more extensive exploration of their relationship.
The book / plot description is a bit misleading in my opinion.
The book / plot description is a bit misleading in my opinion.
April 21, 2024
I loved being able to hear Em Strang talk about this book and was so excited to read it. I found it touching, heartbreaking and intriguing. Lots of unanswered questions for me but I think that's the appeal. It was easy to get consumed in and I read it quickly, not being able to put it down. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was beautifully written.
March 2, 2023
Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, I'm not quite sure what it was that didn't click for me as I've only ever DNF'd a handful of books my entire life but there was something I clearly wasn't feeling.
July 3, 2023
You've got to love a novel written by a poet. Em Strang's Quinn is an unsettling and fascinating read, and I'm still not sure what happened, but he definitely did do something wrong. This book explores themes of abuse, forgiveness, madness and incarceration. I loved it.
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