The Fragments
Toni Jordan
Caddie is a placid bookseller by day, and an avid Inga Karlson fan all the time. Named for a character in Karlson’s first novel, Caddie obsesses over the second book that was never published – The Fragments. After Caddie attends a Gallery showing of The Fragments, she meets a woman who gives her another line of the novel. Caddie is thrown into the path of academia once again and maybe romance too.
I didn’t read this when it was first released because it arrived as a PDF. Thus it’s taken me two years to read it! While it was a nice enough story, and had some important implications for writing, I found myself mainly frustrated and left unfulfilled by the novel.
If Inga was so filled with the need to write a story, why didn’t she write another? A while lifetime might be enough for that. This is something that you won’t fully understand until you read the novel yourself. The twist at the end seems believeable, but it makes the flashbacks in time a little confusing – if she’s not alive, why are we able to ‘hear’ these memories? It’s intriguing, and apart from the fact that I found Caddie a complete derp, quite enjoyable to read.
Caddie, what is wrong with you? Do you have no brain in your head? How can you possibly obsess over two men like that at once? Caddie’s relationships seemed to spiral out of control very quickly, and I found it unbelievable that someone who is smart enough to do a PhD and do research could be so clueless!
I felt quite on the fence about this novel – 3 stars from me. I wouldn’t reread it, and I wouldn’t necessarily suggest it to someone to rush out and buy it.
Text Publishing | March 2020 | AU$22.99 | eBook
