Do you enjoy star ratings? Here are a few scattered thoughts on three longlisted novels for the Women’s Prize, along with my star ratings – the most fun bit.
Miranda July’s lively comic novel, All Fours, was on every “Best of” list at the end of 2024. Yes, the first part is very funny. The narrator, a bisexual artist, decides to drive cross-country from L.A. to New York after her husband calls her a parker, not a driver. But it turns out she is a parker: she checks into a motel after 30 minutes on the road and pays $20,000 to have her room redecorated. After that, it’s basically a lot of sexual performance art: steamy pining for a younger married man who works at Hertz Car Rental, which involves dancing and almost-sex; and sex with various women, including his first lover. There are way too many sex scenes, but I much enjoyed the last part of the book: the narrator finally concentrates on her changing relationship with her husband, her relationships with women (she is bisexual), and how to keep the family intact for her beloved child, Sam, who was born dead and resuscitated by a doctor.
How many stars do I give All Fours? Four and one fourth!
Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel is compelling and nightmarish. The Algorithm, a terrifying AI, mines dreams and internet data to predict crime. Sara, an archivist who lives with her husband and twins, has no criminal history, and has never given a thought to the Risk Assessment Administration. Then she is yanked out of line at an airport and sentenced to a Retention Center. The Algorithm decided that she is likely to murder her husband.
Lalami’s muted, elegant style underlines the surreal horror of the situation. Racial profiling is also an issue; Sara is Moroccan-American.
How many stars do I give The Dream Hotel? Four and a half!
I read Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep last year when it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I dismissed it as a beach read. Isabel, the possibly Aspergers heroine, lives in the elegant house where she grew up, and suspects her brother’s girlfriend of stealing a spoon during her month-long stay. There is a neat twist at the end of the novel, which raises questions of ownership and relationships. But, no, I did not like it.
How many stars do I give The Safekeep? Let’s call it three!
Apparently different minds think differently. I thought ‘The Safekeep’ was great, the best of the Booker shortlist. It did not win.
Tony, that is so true! Most people are wildly enthusiastic about this novel. It just wasn’t for me. The twist, however, was great.