Sometimes I forget that my Mum is dead. But that is probably better than remembering. When Frankie's mother dies, the six-year-old comes up with a plan: go to France, find a police station, and ask the officers to ring his father-and so begins Giller-nominated Pauline Holdstock's eighth novel. Narrated in turns by Frankie, who likes cheese, numbers, the sea when it's pink and "smooth like counting," and being alone when he feels bad, and a cast of characters that includes his Gran and his father, Here I Am! is a mesmerizing story about innocence lost and found.
"Powerful, almost elemental storytelling, an achievement not only of craft but of raw emotion. [The Hunter and the Wild Girl] pulses with vitality, building to a stunning, shattering conclusion."
Vancouver Sun
"[The Blackbirds's Song] examines questions of faith, meaning and power; [Holdstock's] investigation of these issues is profound and beautifully paced, so that despite the intensity of the subject, the momentum of the narrative never falters, the evocation of place and time having an almost cinematic immediacy."
Times Literary Supplement
"Holdstock's ability to paint strange and compelling characters and march them through wondrous and terrifying events leaves one not too concerned about tracing themes. As her title suggests, mysterious life spills beyond the boundaries of inquiry."
