BOOKS
2003 Booker Prize Nominees
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Brick Lane is an epic yet intimate novel set in the Asian community in London’s East End. Still a teenager, Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage with a disappointed man twenty years her senior. Away from the mud, heat and beauty of her Bangladeshi village, home is now a cramped flat in a high-rise block. Nazneen doesn’t speak a word of English, and is forced to depend on her husband. But unlike him, she is practical and wise, and befriends a fellow Asian woman who helps her change from a cautious and shy Asian girl to a bold and dignified woman.
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
When Laurence Waters arrives at his rural hospital posting, Frank is instantly suspicious. Laurence is everything Frank is not – young, optimistic and full of new schemes. The two become uneasy friends, while the rest of the staff in the deserted hospital view Laurence with a mixture of awe and mistrust. In a world where the past is demanding restitution from the present, his ill-starred idealism cannot last.
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Hëller
Schoolteacher Barbara Covett leads a solitary existence. When Sheba Hart joins St. George's as the new art teacher, Barbara senses the possibility of a new friendship. It begins with lunches and continues with regular invitations to meals with Sheba's seemingly close-knit family. But as Barbara and Sheba's relationship develops, another does as well: Sheba has begun a sexual affair with an underage male pupil. When it comes to light and Sheba falls prey to the inevitable media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defence - an account that reveals not only Sheba's secrets but her own.
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall
Caught in an over-vivid world, Kitty is tipped off-centre by the loss of ‘child that never was’. And as children all around become emblems of hope and longing and grief, she’s made shockingly aware of the real reason for pervasive sense of ‘non-existence’… Astonishing Splashes of Colour tells of identity problems in a large family, the sadness of lost children, the approach of breakdown and desperation – and also optimism.
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
Vernon Gregory Little has secrets – but none of them, or so he assumes, have anything to do with the recent massacre of sixteen students at his high school. What he cannot see is that the quirky Texan backwater of Martirio is unable to face its role in the tragedy, and has become a deadly crucible as all eyes turn on Vernon. The media, his mother’s social circle, and the increasingly prosperous townsfolk lead Vernon a merry dance of self-incrimination, as he flees to Mexico and is captured and put on trial as Texas’ most notorious serial killer. Then on the afternoon of his execution, Vernon conceives a wholly modern solution to his dilemma – one that calls for the greatest crime of all.
2003 Booker Prize Nominees
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Brick Lane is an epic yet intimate novel set in the Asian community in London’s East End. Still a teenager, Nazneen finds herself in an arranged marriage with a disappointed man twenty years her senior. Away from the mud, heat and beauty of her Bangladeshi village, home is now a cramped flat in a high-rise block. Nazneen doesn’t speak a word of English, and is forced to depend on her husband. But unlike him, she is practical and wise, and befriends a fellow Asian woman who helps her change from a cautious and shy Asian girl to a bold and dignified woman.
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
When Laurence Waters arrives at his rural hospital posting, Frank is instantly suspicious. Laurence is everything Frank is not – young, optimistic and full of new schemes. The two become uneasy friends, while the rest of the staff in the deserted hospital view Laurence with a mixture of awe and mistrust. In a world where the past is demanding restitution from the present, his ill-starred idealism cannot last.
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Hëller
Schoolteacher Barbara Covett leads a solitary existence. When Sheba Hart joins St. George's as the new art teacher, Barbara senses the possibility of a new friendship. It begins with lunches and continues with regular invitations to meals with Sheba's seemingly close-knit family. But as Barbara and Sheba's relationship develops, another does as well: Sheba has begun a sexual affair with an underage male pupil. When it comes to light and Sheba falls prey to the inevitable media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defence - an account that reveals not only Sheba's secrets but her own.
Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall
Caught in an over-vivid world, Kitty is tipped off-centre by the loss of ‘child that never was’. And as children all around become emblems of hope and longing and grief, she’s made shockingly aware of the real reason for pervasive sense of ‘non-existence’… Astonishing Splashes of Colour tells of identity problems in a large family, the sadness of lost children, the approach of breakdown and desperation – and also optimism.
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
Vernon Gregory Little has secrets – but none of them, or so he assumes, have anything to do with the recent massacre of sixteen students at his high school. What he cannot see is that the quirky Texan backwater of Martirio is unable to face its role in the tragedy, and has become a deadly crucible as all eyes turn on Vernon. The media, his mother’s social circle, and the increasingly prosperous townsfolk lead Vernon a merry dance of self-incrimination, as he flees to Mexico and is captured and put on trial as Texas’ most notorious serial killer. Then on the afternoon of his execution, Vernon conceives a wholly modern solution to his dilemma – one that calls for the greatest crime of all.
posted by D @ 12:14 PM
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