annethology
  • Home
    • About Annethology
    • About me >
      • A little more about me
    • About my books
    • Author talks
    • Contact me
    • Forthcoming events
    • World Mental Health Day
    • Privacy
    • Sign up for my newsletter
  • First two novels
    • Sugar and Snails >
      • Acknowledgements
      • Blog tour, Q&A's and feature articles >
        • Birthday blog tour
        • S&S on tour 2022
      • Early endorsements
      • Events >
        • Launch photos
        • Launch party videos
      • in pictures
      • Media
      • If you've read the book
      • Polari
      • Reading group questions
      • Reviews
      • In the media
    • Underneath >
      • Endorsements and reviews
      • Launch party and events
      • Pictures
      • Questions for book groups
      • The stories underneath the novel
  • Matilda Windsor series
    • The accidental series
    • Matilda Windsor >
      • What readers say
      • For book groups
      • Interviews, articles and features
      • Matty on the move
      • Who were you in 1990?
      • Asylum lit
      • Matilda Windsor media
    • Stolen Summers >
      • Stolen Summers reviews
    • Lyrics for the Loved Ones
  • Short stories
    • Somebody’s Daughter
    • Becoming Someone (anthology) >
      • Becoming Someone (video readings)
      • Becoming Someone reviews
      • Becoming Someone online book chat
    • Print and downloads
    • Read it online
    • Quick reads
  • Free ebook
  • Annecdotal
    • Annecdotal blog
    • Annecdotal Press
    • Articles >
      • Print journalism
      • Where psychology meets fiction
    • Fictional therapists
    • Reading and reviews >
      • Reviews A to H
      • Reviews I to M
      • Reviews N to Z
      • Nonfiction
      • Themed quotes
      • Reading around the world
  • Shop
    • Inspired Quill (my publisher)
    • Bookshop.org (affiliate link)
    • Amazon UK
    • Amazon US
    • books2read
  • Main site

Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

Observing and conserving: Tiger & The Museum of Broken Promises

2/9/2019

6 Comments

 
While separated by style – the first literary lyrical, the second more off-the-peg – and setting – the first wilderness, the second three cityscapes – these two novels are united by more than a character named Tomas. The main characters of both stories are preoccupied with meticulous observation of the environment: for animal research in Tiger whereas in The Museum of Broken Promises, surveillance might be a more appropriate word. And while the latter is about conserving objects and memories, nature conservation is one of the themes of the first.

Picture
Picture


Tiger by Polly Clark

Dismissed from her research post for gross misconduct – after she’s discovered in the enclosure with the bonobos in an opiate haze – Frieda has to be thankful for a job shifting shit at a private zoo. When perestroika brings unemployment, Tomas travels east to join a logging company which, under his father’s management, morphs into a nature reserve. Living with her mother in an isolated cabin deep in the snowy forest, Zina has become an expert tracker and hunter by the age of ten. Although unaware of each other initially, the three are united by their respect for the Siberian tiger and, eventually, a particular female who patrols a territory of 500 square miles in one of the harshest environments on earth.
 
The novel charts the paths of the human characters in sequence, tracking the mishaps and failures that have set them apart from their peers. In the fourth and final narrative we dip into the perspectives of the tigress and her young cub. Already knowledgeable from a previous job as a zookeeper, the author travelled[1] to the remote taiga in temperatures of -35 Celsius to track them in their natural habitat. Such dedication to her art has certainly paid off.
 
Following on from her deservedly-praised debut, Larchfield, Tiger is a lovely novel about the complex bonds between humans and animals, mothers and daughters, and critical fathers and their sons. If you’re interested in wildlife[2] and/or Siberia[3] you’ll love it, and it’s well worth your time if you’re not. Thanks to publishers Riverrun for my review copy.


[1] I doubt she'd have needed the advice in my post on How to have a fruitful research trip

[2] See also The Night Tiger
 

[3] See also the memoir Shadows on the Tundra and the novel Zuleikha
 


The Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan

Yorkshire-born divorcee Laure has settled in Paris, where she’s set up and now curates an unusual museum. The objects within it – all donated – are commonplace, but the stories behind them speak of grief, disappointment and betrayal. People visit for a kind of catharsis and, rather like the way the therapist is drawn to the work because of her own unresolved issues[1], Laure must have some broken-promise stories of her own.
 
But she’s not going to give them up easily. When a young American journalist comes calling, Laure, despite needing the publicity, is reserved about her past[2]. Luckily, the reader can follow her to Prague where, in 1985, taking a break from university after the death of her father, she works as an au pair and falls in love. While she likes the family she’s employed by – two children, their ailing mother and well-connected father – their communist politics conflict with those of her lover, a dissident musician … and the consequences will be tragic.
 
Although I enjoyed this novel overall, I found it difficult to get into, partly because – after an intriguing prologue where a young woman waits nervously on a station platform across the border from Czechoslovakia – in the early pages it’s the less interesting contemporary strand that takes centre stage. Also, while it’s a rare book that’s totally devoid of typos, my finished copy – courtesy of Corvus Books – seemed less thoroughly checked than many proof copies I’ve read.
 
If any of these topics interest you, you might also like to read about another of Elizabeth Buchan’s novels about surveillance, this time during the Second World War, I Can’t Begin to Tell You, and/or novels by other authors with a museum focus: Lost Property; The Museum of Cathy; The Lost Time Accidents; Meet Me at the Museum. See also my blog post on Derwent Pencil Museum: a must-visit venue for writers and artists .


[1] See Becoming Someone: my journey through psychology, therapy and fiction

[2] My own novel, Sugar and Snails, is also about a woman with reason to keep her past a secret.
 
Picture

A particularly tricky flash fiction challenge this week, although I have managed to link my 99-word story to observing and conserving, and mothers and daughters as in Tiger. There’s a clue to the prompt in the image, and it’s there in the final sentence of my flash:


Like mother, like daughter

 
From the age of three my mother took me with her. Silenced by a lollipop, she bade me look and learn. And, fingers wiped of stickiness, feel the vibrations in my heart. It wasn’t about codes or numbers, it was bonding with the barricade, to coax the treasures from within. The way a musician melds with her instrument, creating the music between them.
 
In my teens I rebelled, forged my own furrow as a cat burglar, a pickpocket. But lower risk brought lesser rewards.  Like mother, like daughter: a safebreaker’s daughter can’t escape tradition, so I’m a safebreaker too.


Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
6 Comments
Charli Mills link
3/9/2019 10:37:17 pm

Both covers match rather well, too! Tiger grabs my attention and I went and marked it as one to read. I'll watch for Elizabeth Buchan's book. It's not out (at least not in the States) and I hope they clean up the proof! I'm impressed with how you are cross-referencing themes and connecting books from past reviews or linking to similarities in your stories or novels. I'm not sure if readers understand what a robust literary site you have. Now that I'm in full grad school mode, I'm appreciating the work you do here even more, Anne. I love your flash fiction! With sharp writing, like "silenced by a lollipop" and exploration of a mother daughter relationship, it tells her development from accomplice to an equal.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
4/9/2019 04:35:47 pm

Yes, it’s an extra bonus when the covers match too! I wonder if gold is the new red.
Sorry I neglected to mention that Broken Promises is published tomorrow – I got ahead of myself with advance copies out this week! I can’t be 100% sure, but I believe my copy was the finished version – they don’t usually send proofs out in hardback. The typos weren’t terrible but more than I’d expect.
As for Tiger, I met a great grey owl – the largest owl species – that hails from that area shortly after I posted this review. (Sadly not in the wild!) The tiger must be even more magnificent.
I very much appreciate you reading and feeding back on my reviews. Especially now you’re presumably much busier with your coursework. So glad it dovetails.
It was a relief I got the flash to work with that tricky prompt, but I regretted giving the child a lollipop initially when I realised I wanted her to use her hands. I’m not sure what the mother wiped them with however.

Reply
Norah Colvin
6/9/2019 06:19:54 am

I was drawn to Tiger instantly. I guess I've always been fascinated by their beauty so the cover certainly appealed. I also enjoyed your review but wondered how you'd feel about the three stories told separately before being combined. Then your recommendation left no doubt.
I'm not sure about the Museum of Broken Promises. While the premise sounds interesting I find something unattractive about the cover. Does a cover really matter? Maybe more than I might have thought.
I like the way you are now putting your links in brackets. It seems to leave the text clear but also remain unobtrusive. As always, I like that you mention and link to your own stories.
Your flash is very clever. I like the way you've described the process of cracking the safe. I'd almost believe you have experience in the practice. :) I think the mother was brave to take along a 3-year old though. It could take more than a lollipop to keep most children quiet or still. Seems teenager rebellion can be, and often is, short-lived before a return to habits formed in younger years.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
7/9/2019 03:37:57 pm

Thanks, Norah, I think you might be picking up something from the cover of Broken Promises that I missed when I thought I’d like to read it, as it turns out to be a lighter approach to serious topic than I expected. All those objects figure in the story but only make sense after you've read it. I think covers are meant to work the other way around.

Thanks for the feedback about the footnotes. I’ll try to do more links this way in future if it easier to read.

You’re right about the three-year-old’s ability to sit still and stay quiet. Good thing it is only fiction! (Even if I insist fiction gives us access to the truth.)

Reply
Norah Colvin
13/9/2019 11:02:59 am

Thanks for your reply, Anne. Now that I look at the cover again, I don't like the subtitle either. (I shouldn't have looked.)

Anne Goodwin
13/9/2019 01:11:49 pm

You shouldn't have! I didn't -- my copy didn't have that on it!


Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Free ebook: click the image to claim yours.
    Picture
    Available now
    Picture
    The poignant prequel to Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home
    Picture
    Find a review
    Picture
    Fictional therapists
    Picture
    Picture
    About Anne Goodwin
    Picture
    My published books
    entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice
    Picture
    My third novel, published May 2021
    Picture
    My debut novel shortlisted for the 2016 Polari First Book Prize
    Picture
    Picture
    My second novel published May 2017.
    Picture
    Short stories on the theme of identity published 2018
    Anne Goodwin's books on Goodreads
    Sugar and Snails Sugar and Snails
    reviews: 32
    ratings: 52 (avg rating 4.21)

    Underneath Underneath
    reviews: 24
    ratings: 60 (avg rating 3.17)

    Becoming Someone Becoming Someone
    reviews: 8
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.56)

    GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4 GUD: Greatest Uncommon Denominator, Issue 4
    reviews: 4
    ratings: 9 (avg rating 4.44)

    The Best of Fiction on the Web The Best of Fiction on the Web
    reviews: 3
    ratings: 3 (avg rating 4.67)

    2022 Reading Challenge

    2022 Reading Challenge
    Anne has read 2 books toward their goal of 100 books.
    hide
    2 of 100 (2%)
    view books
    Picture
    Annecdotal is where real life brushes up against the fictional.  
    Picture
    Annecdotist is the blogging persona of Anne Goodwin: 
    reader, writer,

    slug-slayer, tramper of moors, 
    recovering psychologist, 
    struggling soprano, 
    author of three fiction books.

    LATEST POSTS HERE
    I don't post to a schedule, but average  around ten reviews a month (see here for an alphabetical list), 
    some linked to a weekly flash fiction, plus posts on my WIPs and published books.  

    Your comments are welcome any time any where.

    Get new posts direct to your inbox ...

    Enter your email address:

    or click here …

    RSS Feed


    Picture

    Tweets by @Annecdotist
    Picture
    New short story, “My Dirty Weekend”
    Picture
    Let’s keep in touch – subscribe to my newsletter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular posts

    • Compassion: something we all need
    • Do spoilers spoil?
    • How to create a convincing fictional therapist
    • Instructions for a novel
    • Looking at difference, embracing diversity
    • Never let me go: the dilemma of lending books
    • On loving, hating and writers’ block
      On Pop, Pirates and Plagiarism
    • READIN' for HER reviews
    • Relishing the cuts
    • The fast first draft
    • The tragedy of obedience
    • Writers and therapy: a love-hate relationship?

    Categories/Tags

    All
    Animals
    Annecdotist Hosts
    Annecdotist On Tour
    Articles
    Attachment Theory
    Author Interviews
    Becoming Someone
    Being A Writer
    Blogging
    Bodies
    Body
    Bookbirthday
    Books For Writers
    Bookshops
    CB Book Group
    Character
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Classics
    Climate Crisis
    Coming Of Age
    Counsellors Cafe
    Creative Writing Industry
    Creativity
    Cumbria
    Debut Novels
    Disability
    Editing
    Emotion
    Ethics
    Ethis
    Family
    Feedback And Critiques
    Fictional Psychologists & Therapists
    Food
    Friendship
    Futuristic
    Gender
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Giveaways
    Good Enough
    Grammar
    Gratitude
    Group/organisational Dynamics
    Hero’s Journey
    History
    Humour
    Identity
    Illness
    Independent Presses
    Institutions
    International Commemorative Day
    Jane Eyre
    Kidney Disease
    Language
    LGBTQ
    Libraries
    Live Events
    Lyrics For The Loved Ones
    Marketing
    Matilda Windsor
    Memoir
    Memory
    Mental Health
    Microfiction
    Motivation
    Music
    MW Prequel
    Names
    Narrative Voice
    Nature / Gardening
    Networking
    Newcastle
    Nonfiction
    Nottingham
    Novels
    Pandemic
    Peak District
    Perfect Match
    Poetry
    Point Of View
    Politics
    Politics Current Affairs
    Presentation
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Psychoanalytic Theory
    Psychology
    Psycholoists Write
    Psychotherapy
    Race
    Racism
    Rants
    Reading
    Real Vs Imaginary
    Religion
    Repetitive Strain Injury
    Research
    Reviewing
    Romance
    Satire
    Second Novels
    Settings
    Sex
    Shakespeare
    Short Stories General
    Short Stories My Published
    Short Stories Others'
    Siblings
    Snowflake
    Somebody's Daughter
    Stolen Summers
    Storytelling
    Structure
    Sugar And Snails
    Technology
    The
    The Guestlist
    Therapy
    TikTok
    TNTB
    Toiletday
    Tourism
    Toxic Positivity
    Transfiction
    Translation
    Trauma
    Unconscious
    Unconscious, The
    Underneath
    Voice Recognition Software
    War
    WaSBihC
    Weather
    Work
    Writing Process
    Writing Technique

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Picture
    BLOGGING COMMUNITIES
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from havens.michael34, romana klee, mrsdkrebs, Kyle Taylor, Dream It. Do It., adam & lucy, dluders, Joybot, Hammer51012, jorgempf, Sherif Salama, eyspahn, raniel diaz, E. E. Piphanies, scaredofbabies, Nomadic Lass, paulternate, Tony Fischer Photography, archer10 (Dennis), slightly everything, impbox, jonwick04, country_boy_shane, dok1, Out.of.Focus, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Elvert Barnes, guillenperez, Richard Perry, jamesnaruke, Juan Carlos Arniz Sanz, El Tuerto, kona99, maveric2003, !anaughty!, Patrick Denker, David Davies, hamilcar_south, idleformat, Dave Goodman, Sharon Mollerus, photosteve101, La Citta Vita, A Girl With Tea, striatic, carlosfpardo, Damork, Elvert Barnes, UNE Photos, jurvetson, quinn.anya, BChristensen93, Joelk75, ashesmonroe, albertogp123, >littleyiye<, mudgalbharat, Swami Stream, Dicemanic, lovelihood, anyjazz65, Tjeerd, albastrica mititica, jimmiehomeschoolmom, joshtasman, tedeytan, striatic, goforchris, torbakhopper, maggibautista, andreboeni, snigl3t, rainy city, frankieleon