SPOTTED LILY BY ANNA TAMBOUR

Jeff Ford has just blogged about Spotted Lily by Anna Tambour, a first novel by an extremely talented Australian author. I have to admit I'm only half way through the novel because of things like novel revisions and preparations for Australia, but I agree with a lot of what Ford says. I dislike Faustian bargain stories, for the most part, but Tambour's is multi-layered, richly written, and complex from a character standpoint. I have found it riveting thus far and the depictions of the Devil to be extraordinarily fine. The main thing is, the novel is real. The details chosen are perfect, dead-on, and thus there isn't the flatness or the stylized effect you often find in stories of this kind. It's refreshing. And nothing is as it seems in the novel, either. But check out Ford's recommendation, since he's read all of it. I'm just afraid I'm not going to finish it before I leave for Australia, so at least want to draw some attention to it now.

Jeff