“Except by prejudice there is no sentiment in the arts banned from expression and no story that cannot be told. The enchantment is in the feeling and in the telling, and that is all.”
So says the narrator, Mia, in Siri Hustvedt's The Summer Without Men, one of the many books I enjoyed in my long summer break of holidays and celebrations. The quote is a good reminder, as I settle back to writing my novel, that voice and viewpoint is all!
Siri Hustvedt [Mrs Paul Auster, not that that should matter] is a writer I've been circling around, feeling I should read her but never quite manging to. In some ways The Summer Without Men, is a light read but it's also witty, intelligent and thoughtful about love, women across the generations, aging, dying and writing. I'm looking forward to working my way through her backlist.
It seems that The Summer Without Men has been shortlisted for the French literary prize, The Prix Femina. The winner to be announced in the first week of November.
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