Synopsis:
A darkly comic literary novel set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. A young couple, Lucas and Angela, try to escape from London – with disastrous consequences.
Ease of reading:
254 pages. This book is hard to read. It took me 16 days to complete this book with breaks. I had to read other books in the middle to provide some mental relief from the tone and seriousness.
Where to buy:
Amazon for kindle – $2.99 or paperback for $9.99.
There is also currently a give away on Goodreads. You could win one of 2 copies of the book if you enter between now and 2 Jan 2013 (Only available for US, Canadian, GB and Australian residents).
Review:
The miracle inspector is unlike almost everything else I have read, and I have read a lot. I think this book would be suited to those who enjoy very intricate books, books that take a long time to develop and books that may not be action-packed.
The writing was good, sometimes a little dry and at others quite poetic, this truly shows the authors talent. To be able to encompass both ends of the spectrum in one book.
There were a lot of unanswered questions, which is ultimately the reason why I rated this as a 2 and not a 3. I wanted a little more from the story. The concept was eerily believable as other reviews have said, but what we didn’t get was enough substance.
This book felt difficult to digest at times, which caused me to take breaks and read other books, to me that is usually a bad sign, but with this book I think it was more to do with the mental processing required to read it. It was kind of like going into an advanced calculus class… challenging and requiring a lot of thought.
The miracle inspector is not an ‘easy’ read and is most definitely not something to be entered into lightly. If you are up for the challenge, give it a go.
*Note: I was provided a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review*
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We’re getting so used to ‘easy to read’ books now that sometimes these come along and we’re not quite sure how to take them. I love reading Salmon Rushdie, but I’ve heard he’s one of the ‘heaviest’ writers around. I love his humour, but sometimes I have to re-read entire pages because they are so intricate.
Do you know who published this book?
Hi Dianne! Yes I know what you mean, this book was one of those that I just didn’t know what to do with. I think of reading as a hobby and enjoyment, so the easy reads are perfect. Although, that isn’t to say I don’t mind being challenged with a book, but this was a bit too much.
Goodreads says Tyger Books Published it this year.
Thank for that 😉 Maybe this one is a bit too heavy for me (and the fact that things didn’t get sorted out in the end is something I’d find frustrating)