Home
/
Fiction
/
Still Lives
Still Lives
Jul 11, 2025 9:45 AM

Author:Anna Cato

Still Lives

Louise Carmichael is the daughter of an English artist and a French emmissary. When she first meets Geoffrey Carmichael she is 19, working for her grandfather in his famous art gallery in Paris and desolate. Geoffrey offers escape - to her father's world and a life of her own, but she could have no idea that life in Oxford would come complete with its own constraints and restrictions. Twenty years later she makes a small bid for freedom and the taste of liberty is a dangerous thing wth unforseen results. . . .

Reviews

An extraordinary and peculiarly haunting novel

—— Chris Cleave , author of The Other Hand

Extraordinary

—— Emma Donoghue, author of Room

Enchanting and compellingly dark... This is an intensely personal story, but told with a lightness of touch and air of magic

—— Nigella Lawson , Mail on Sunday Books of the Year

A tremendously affecting novel, skillfully and arrestingly written, and one that packs a big emotional punch

—— Sunday Times

Both sinister and sharply intriguing, with a completely convincing eleven-year-old narrator caught in fundamentalism, school persecution and the edge of the miraculous

—— A.S. Byatt , Guardian, Books of the Year

Bursting with tension and tenderness, this novel is a small miracle in itself

—— Helen Brown , Daily Mail

Grace McCleen's writing is deep, fantastical and powerful... She has been able to observe a fascinating world with generosity, wonder and spirit. A wonderful gem of a debut

—— Viv Groskop , Independent on Sunday

Affecting and brilliantly written…a truly awe-inspiring debut

—— Stylist

Surprising, affecting, thoughtful and complex, McCleen's novel grows in power the more time you spend with it

—— Nicola Barr , Observer

Exquisitely written and imagined

—— Woman & Home

A stand-out debut from a new talent ... Inventive and unforgettable

—— Good Housekeeping

An incredibly emotional read

—— Grazia

A thrilling page-turner

—— Alexander Larman , Spectator

This is a novel that strikes both horror and joy in the reader, the first-person narration deftly articulating Judith's escalating confusion and fear ... A talent to watch

—— Lucy Scholes , The Sunday Times

A touching, delicate book, it's hitting the shelves with high hopes...On March 1, head out and buy Grace McCleen's book

—— Louis Wise , Sunday Times

A distinctive debut that pulls off the use of a child narrator in delightful style

—— We Love This Book

Touching and funny… a compelling and wholly original debut.

—— Marie Claire

Shimmers with little miracles.

—— Peggy Hughes , Scotland on Sunday

This is a promisingly bold book and McCleen is a talent to watch

—— Lucy Scholes , Sunday Times

A gripping and mesmerizing debut of an unforgettable ten-year-old heroine and her battle with good and evil… A harrowing and powerful story about isolation and belonging

—— My Weekly

An original new voice... Haunting and absorbing, this is a joy to read

—— Jackie Carrier , Suffolk Free Press

A seemingly slight work that is, in fact, possessed of almost infinite depth. It's an elegant inquiry into what we can know and how we can know it - and it's gripping too

—— Erica Wagner , The Times, Books of the Year

It sets off a moving meditation on ageing, regret and the unreliability of memory

—— Sunday Express, Books of the Year

Has rightly been praised for its economy and elegance

—— Margaret Drabble , Guardian, Books of the Year

Belatedly and deservedly, this was the year of Julian Barnes

—— Mark Lawson , Guardian, Books of the Year

Exquisitely written and deeply engaging

—— Lorrie Moore , Guardian, Books of the Year

Elegant verbal exactness, analytic finesse and a witty portrayal of contemporary and 1960's life complement the intricate plot

—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times, Books of the Year

A worthy Booker laureate of this or any other year, our most versatile novelist...a perfect present in these last days of the book as a singular object

—— Philip French , Observer, Books of the Year

A worthy winner of this year's Booker prize: short, but certainly not slight, precise and insightful

—— Kate Cunningham , Herald, Books of the Year

This novel packed more emotion into its 150 pages than any other I have read this year

—— Bob McDevitt , Herald, Books of the Year

Melancholic, suspenseful and thought-provoking

—— Kirsty Wark , Herald, Books of the Year

Several plot twists later, what started off as a thoughtful (and fascinating) meditation on memory becomes something close to a full blown thriller

—— James Walton , Daily Mail

Essential reading for any writer, aspiring or otherwise

—— Patrick Keogh , Guardian

A meditation on memory and regret slyly conveyed through the unreliable voice of a complacent man whose past gives him a nasty surprise

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

A deserving winner

—— Éibhear Walshe , Irish Times, Books of the Year

Masterful, gripping and, above all, surprising

—— Victoria Hislop , The Week, Books of the Year

Barnes has always has an ear for the bleak comedy of the first person

—— Olivia Cole , GQ

Novel, fertile and memorable

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

Julian Barnes’ Man-Booker prize-winning novel has extraordinary power and emotional density

—— Simon Shaw , Mail on Sunday

An eloquent meditation on relationships, emotional arrogance and the discomfort of remorse

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

The key to this slender, tantalizing mystery is on its opening page: what you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed

—— Katie Owen , Daily Telegraph

His art is artful, often openly so, but never showy or obvious

—— Colm Toibin , New York Review

Described in Justin Cartwright’s review as 'a very fine book, skillfully plotted, boldly conceived’

—— Guardian, Holiday Reads

I am eager to read it, though I hear it needs to be read twice to be fully appreciated

—— Colm O'Gorman , Independent
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved