Patrick McGuinness
Pictures of Poiana
Georgina Harding’s new novel, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, is set in 1950s Romania as the country emerges from war and communism tightens its grip. The story begins in the city of Iaşi, when an unnamed man arrives at the railway station. It is his first trip beyond the countryside of Poiana, where, we discover, he was the illegitimate son of a servant in a large country house owned by a wealthy family. The world he leaves behind is essentially feudal, though in her evocation of his childhood Harding shows how children can live with scant regard for the caste system of their elders.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'Too many historians sneer at our forbears; scolding them if they follow the customs of their own day ... tut-tutting if the poor things are detected having a little fun.'
From the archive, Mary Clive on medieval travellers.
http://ow.ly/yk8a50yrjSG
'Reading Taylor’s book has also made me join a book club. I did not like the January book; I did enjoy drinking gin while saying why.'
@clamorousvoice explores the history of women readers.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/she-readers
'When the language starts functioning as a character in fiction, when it is there drawing attention to itself ... It’s not anything that anybody really takes seriously.'
Our interview with Anthony Burgess from 1983.
http://ow.ly/5u0y50yrjoO