A Corner of White
Jaclyn Moriarty
Madeleine and Elliot are from totally different worlds, one of which has forgotten the existence of the other. At first glance, their lives are hard by today’s standards, and things are upset. Little does the reader know simply how upset that is!
This novel started so slowly and got so confusing at times that I couldn’t work out what was going on. I struggled to get into it, and found myself easily distracted. Near the end, I was finally hit with a shock of ‘wow’, but it only lasted a couple of pages.
A hint of history, for those of us who aren’t fabulous at history, but I’m not exactly certain how they fitted into the muddled text. Added bonus facts about Isaac Newton? Yes please. Jack thinking he is Byron? Really confusing in what I thought was the real world.
I wanted the different characters to grow tangibly, but I’m not sure they ever did. Madeleine and Elliot both make the same discoveries about themselves, through their communications. But I don’t think I really felt it happening, the rest of the text left me too confused.
The last surreal novel I read, In the Skin of a Monster, polarised me far more than this one – I hated it! aCoW at least had a sense of order, and I could understand the distinct worlds. Even the overlapping was reasonable, and I could cope with that. I think this novel could have been told just through letter to make it even more obscure!
From the blurbs at the back of my copy of the novel, Moriarty is a specialist in interesting forms of fantasy fiction. I’m not sure how tempted I am to read those other novels, although a couple involve schools, which usually gets me excited.
I’m really not sure how I felt about this novel. I’m going to give it a solid 3 stars, and get started on the next. I wasn’t enthralled enough to give it 4 stars.
