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Title: The Night Brother
Author: Rosie Garland
Narrator: Georgia Maguire, Gareth Bennett-Ryan, Emma Gregory
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
Language: English
Release date: 06-01-17
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Genres: Fiction, Gay & Lesbian
Publisher's Summary:
From the author of The Palace of Curiosities and Vixen comes a bold new novel exploring questions of identity, sexual equality and how well we really know ourselves. Perfect for fans of Angela Carter, Sarah Waters and Erin Morgenstern.
Rich are the delights of late 19th-century Manchester for young siblings Edie and Gnome. They bicker, banter, shout and scream their way through the city's streets, embracing its charms and dangers. But as the pair grow up, it is Gnome who revels in the nighttime while Edie wakes exhausted each morning, unable to quell a sickening sense of unease, with only a dim memory of the dark hours.
Confused and frustrated at living a half life, she decides to take control, distancing herself from Gnome once and for all. But can she ever be free from someone who knows her better than she knows herself?
A dazzling and provocative novel of adventure and belonging, The Night Brother lures us to the furthermost boundaries of sexual and gender identity. With echoes of Orlando and Jekyll & Hyde, this is a story about the vital importance of being honest with yourself. Every part of yourself. After all, no one likes to be kept in the dark.
Critic Reviews:
Praise for The Night Brother:
"Rosie Garland writes in a tumble of poetry, desire and passion, as intriguing and delicious as the story she tells." (Stella Duffy)
Praise for The Palace of Curiosities:
"Garland's lush prose is always a pleasure." (The Guardian)
"A jewel-box of a novel...Garland is a real literary talent: definitely an author to watch." (Sarah Waters)
"An alternately brutal and beautiful story about love and belonging in a vividly conveyed underworld, rich in carny phantasmagoria and lyrical romance.' (Metro)
"Bewitching." (Good Housekeeping)
"Reminds me of Angela Carter." (Jenni Murray)
Members Reviews:
Interesting ideas, perhaps too confined by the magic realism choice
Although this book certainly had an interesting idea behind it â the exploration of gender identity, sibling rivalry told via a soupcon of magic realism, a kind of alternative Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde all tacked on to a Manchester, early twentieth century rise of the suffragist movement â it did not really add up to more than the sum of its parts, for me. In fact, There is a nice vitality in Garlandâs writing, and I can see why there have been comparisons made to Angela Carter and Sarah Waters â particularly Waters in her Victorian setting books. Unfortunately, for this reader the difference is that Carter and Waters consistently expanded and developed surprise and imagination in their books, but I found, initial twist and structure over, there were no surprises, and I knew exactly where the book was going. Which isnât necessarily a problem â as long as the reader can find themselves under the skin of the characters so that you invest in their journeys. Not the case here, for me.
I was offered this as a review copy, via NetGalley, and was drawn to it by publisher comparisons between authors I had loved â Erin Morgenstern, as well as Carter and Waters.
The still outstanding book I read, years ago, on gender identity, remains Rose Tremainâs Sacred Country. No magic realism, just real realism, absolutely taking the reader into the heart of her central characterâs journey.
