As we get ready to toast the turn of the decade it's time for me to name the best novels I read in 2009. All of them garnered five-stars when I reviewed them over the course of the year. My top 10 fiction reads are as follows (in alphabetical order by book title):
'A Far Cry From Kensington' by Muriel Spark (first published in 1988)
"To say I was utterly charmed by it would probably be an understatement.
This is a deliciously enjoyable story that is so perfectly constructed
it's almost impossible to find fault with it -- on any level. The prose
is simple, the characters believable and the plot expertly drawn, so
that you're never quite sure where it's going to take you and then feel
overwhelmingly satisfied when you arrive at its destination."
'A Woman of My Age' by Nina Bawden (1967)
"A Woman of My Age is definitely a product of its times, when
women married young and were expected to stay at home and raise a
family. But in Elizabeth Jourdelay, Bawden has created a headstrong and
independent character who rails against society's 'rules' and
constraints."
'Eight Months on Ghazzah Street' by Hilary Mantel (1998)
"Eight Months on Ghazzah Street is a psychological thriller of
the finest order. It reads like a woman on the verge of a nervous
breakdown, but because Frances is an intelligent worldly wise woman, you
know that her fears aren't fickle. Mantel builds up the tension slowly
but surely, revealing Frances' increasing sense of foreboding through
diary entries that are interspersed throughout the third-person
narrative."
'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes (1966)
"Daniel Key's Flowers for Algernon is a very special science
fiction novel that reveals much about the human condition and the ways
in which we relate to others. It touches on many issues including the
way we treat the mentally handicapped, the ethics of scientific
experimentation on animals (and humans), our desire to be 'normal', the
differences between IQ and EQ, and the ways in which our childhood
experiences impact on our adult lives."
'The Merry-Go-Roun-in the Sea' by Randolph Stow (1965)
"Essentially the book, which was first written in 1965, is a
coming-of-age story. It is set in Geraldton, Western Australia, where
the author, who now lives in England, was born. Although my Penguin
Modern Classics edition claims it is "not a self portrait" there's no
mistaking The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea's
semi-autobiographical roots. It has a truly authentic feel for the time
and the place, and it's easy to find yourself entirely immersed in this
world, smelling the eucalyptus wafting on the breeze and feeling the
hot sand of the beach between your toes."
'Nineteen Eighty-Four' by George Orwell (1949)
"The thing that struck me most was how much of this futuristic
novel was deeply rooted in the time in which Orwell wrote it. There are
echoes of war-torn London throughout this book [...] Obviously there's a lot of stuff that feels incredibly prescient today:
the so-called War on Terror and its resultant erosion of civil
liberties; the increasing reliance on media spin, particularly by
government agencies; and the ever-present CCTV surveillance, especially
here in the UK."
'Once & Then' by Morris Gleitzman (2009)
"Once & Then is a powerful story about the strength and
resilience of the human spirit. It's about courage and hope, and
surviving against the odds. And while it tackles one of the darkest
times in 20th century history, Gleitzman does it sensitively without
losing any of the important detail. There's plenty of death here, and
cruelty, but it's not sensationalist or gratuitous. 'This story is my
imagination trying to grasp the unimaginable,' he writes in his
afterward. I think he's achieved it."
'Pretty Monsters' by Kelly Link (2009)
"There are nine stories here, some of which have been published
elsewhere in the past, and each one presents an intoxicating, hugely
original world [...] I've
never read such a wacky collection of stories that gripped me, held me
in their sway and slightly altered my perception of the universe when I
came to each stunning conclusion. Where has Kelly Link been hiding all
my life? She's bloody brilliant."
'The Shiralee' by D'Arcy Niland (1955)
"The book has a big heart. It's funny in places and sad in others.
It's occasionally tender, occasionally brutal. It's humble, knowing and
wise. Sometimes it makes you feel ashamed to be human, at other times
it makes you feel proud. And, above all, it makes you wish every book
was written like this: forthright, absorbing and genuinely moving."
'The Wilderness' by Samantha Harvey (2009)
"Samantha Harvey is an exquisite writer and a skilled novelist. The Wilderness
is so accomplished on so many different levels -- stylistically,
creatively, intellectually -- that it seems astonishing that this is
her first novel."
What books did you most enjoy this year?
