Observations by Jane Harris

Here's a book that was sent to me recently and which I'll be reviewing
soon on the Institute of Ideas' Culture Wars website, here. It's
currently up for the Orange Prize (the Booker, but excluding men and
sponsored by a phone company).



Not wanting at all to preempt my longer, more thorough, and much more
thought through review on those pages, I would have to say that The
Observations came as something of a disappointment.



Written in the first person with a narrator who was, one supposes,
supposed to be something of a character, it never managed the colour or
vibrancy that would have made its protagonist a fully rounded persona.
It started to dabble with a number of interesting themes: the nature of
servility, unquestioning obedience, obsession, ghostly revisitations,
even - in the most subtle of ways - Victorian lesbianism a la Tipping
the Velvet, Fingersmith, et al. However, none of these promising
avenues led the royal way to fruition and all that was left was a story
in which plenty happened but to little real end.



As I say, a little bit of a disappointment. However, should you fail to
heed my advice, here's a link which will take you to amazon.co.uk, and
a copy ready for the purchasing. What's more, the rest of the orange
prize short list is included also. the roundtable review - providing
an exhaustive service once again.