Reviews

An Island by Karen Jennings

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gracecashxx's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

thebobsphere's review against another edition

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3.0

For those who don’t know, An Island is from the only small press in this year’s Booker longlist. Considering the majority of the books come from PRH, it’s good to see a tiny indie on there. As those who follow my blog know, I support and champion them as I believe that’s where the cutting edge stuff lies.

An Island’s main protagonist is Samuel. He lives on his own island, in a lighthouse. His only contact with society is through two deliverymen who give him unwanted products from the U.S. At this point he’s happy.

Then one day a half dead refugee washes up on the beach and Samuel takes him to his house and gives him the necessities to live. This triggers the memories of is life on South Africa, where he took part in political protests and paid the price in many ways. The worst result being after being liberated his country fell into the hands of a dictator, which started the cycle of protests.

An Island is most definitely a political book (or are all books political in their own way). It’s about violence and racism. Like all the other books on this year’s longlist, there is also a portrayal of a small scale society; the prejudices, traditions and attitudes. A further subplot in this multi-layered novel consists of Samuel trying to prove himself to his potential father in law.

Despite being thought provoking and deceptively complex, I found Jennings prose to be a bit cold: I admired it, I loved the plot. I even liked how the book was structured. However I did feel that something was lacking. Nevertheless this is a novel albeit a brief one, worth reading and (mentally) tearing apart.