A Private Man
An unusual family history ... Lush, evocative and sexy ... Sy-Quia’s great skill is in conjuring up whole landscapes and states of mind in a few words — the stylistic economy learnt through writing poetry — and here it is on great display ... A truly impressive debut novel, one I could see appearing on the Booker longlist, and which I’ll want to read and reread in the years to come.
Based on the story of the author’s grandparents, Sy-Quia’s restrained, chiselled prose will delight admirers of Elizabth Bowen and Anita Brookner, where the orderliness of the surface underlines the emotional churning beneath.
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Sy-Quia wisely avoids tying up all loose ends, creating a portrait rather than a complicated plot ... A tender, surprising excavation of minds meeting and hearts singing through disappointments to very human deaths.
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