Fragile Feet

Better late than never, I have finally finished Ali Shaw's The Girl With Glass Feet - which I heard about because Simon S chose it as one of his books for Not The TV Book Group. I had nearly finished when I discovered that (a) Ali is a man, and (b) he worked for the Bodleian Library, like yours truly!

I don't think it's necessary for me to write a proper review, because there is such a good discussion over at Savidge Reads, so instead I shall offer you a link to that discussion and tell you that I liked the book a lot, with some reservations. Indeed, I shall give you a very, very short review, and tell you to pop over to that discussion.


I liked:
--the quirky ideas: glass feet! cow-moth-things! a bird that turns things white!
--a generally impressive and engaging writing style
--Shaw didn't just use a crazy idea for novelty value, it was well developed and quite beautiful

I didn't like:
--jumping around between narrative strands and not quite knowing where we were, or what the time setting was
--the dialogue felt a little clunky sometimes - too many 'ums'

A quotation:
"She could feel the encroachment of the glass like an animal feeling the tremor before an earthquake."

These quick reviews could be the way forward! I can go to bed now...