The Maltese Version
Philosophical and disarmingly dishy ... The meringue-light surface of The Maltese Version, which had thus far presented itself as a caper about two female friends trying to make it in the dying travel-guide industry, might conceal unforeseen depths ... Smith is an observant and dexterous writer ... A steely exploration of novelistic form and what said form can and cannot reveal. It’s a book that — for both its inventiveness and its many linguistic sleights of hand — can renew our faith in the playful joys and critical capacity of fiction.
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A cheeky caper ... Smith can do whatever she wants, style-wise, and it’s going to turn out great ... Katy Simpson Smith just can’t help it: whether she’s writing a romance, a fantasy, a mystery or a thriller, the result is always going to be a fantastically complex, gorgeously written literary novel, and we are so lucky to get to read whatever it is she writes.
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Smith offers unique characters within plots that showcase the wondrous, quirky, and occasionally disconcerting aspects of humanity ... Focusing a vigilant eye on women’s inner complexities, Smith presents a spirited, curious, and linguistically adept novel that should thrill armchair travelers and readers of intellectual literary fiction.
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