Reading All the Bookers!

Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 2024 Plot Time and Place :  The Netherlands, 1961 Opening sentence :  "Isabel found a broken piece of ceramic under the roots of a dead gourd." Plot summary : Two very different women meet and fall in love, but all is not what it seems... Review :  Wow. It's hard to imagine something better than this winning the Booker this year. (At the time of writing, the 2024 winner is not yet known). Really good writing, great story, makes you think about war, love, sibling relationships, historical injustices and repair, love between women, about loss, grief and obsession... Rating :  4/5

Booker Prize :  Winner International Booker  2020  Plot Time and Place :  Present day Netherlands Opening sentence :    "I was ten and stopped taking off my coat." Plot summary :  It is narrated by ten-year-old Jas, a girl who lives with her religious family on a dairy farm in the Netherlands. Jas is grieving the death of her brother, who died in an accident. His death drives further instability in the family and deteriorates Jas' mental health.  Review :  It´s strange to say you liked a book when it is so full of disturbing scenes and imagery. But I liked it. The writing is beautiful, the descriptions very imaginative, and it was interesting to see how different people deal with grief, and the dynamic between siblings. The author is also very good at writing in the first person as a child, it really feels like a child's voice and thoughts. Rating :  4/5