Rating: 2.5
Almost English
A Novel by Charlotte Mendelson
2013 / 391 Pages
Longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, Almost English presents the tension and identity crises that occur within a blended, multicultural family. While 16 year-old Marina might identify as English on paper, her family life and heritage is much more complicated. Marina’s mother, Laura, married a Hungarian man named Peter, but his binge drinking and general lack of enthusiasm for family life left Marina fatherless for the majority of her upbringing. And the life of a single mother hasn’t been easy for Laura, either, especially considering that they are still very closely tied to Peter’s family. Marina and Laura have lived with Peter’s mother and her two sisters in a tiny London apartment since Peter’s abandonment, which has propelled them into a sort of cultural limbo.
Over the course of the next eight days, leading up the Man Booker shortlist announcement on September 10th, each one of our eight bloggers will champion a different nominated title and explain Why it Will Win the coveted prize.
I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover, right? But how can you help it? Like it or not, we’re all highly visual beings and cover art can make or break a book when it comes to sales.
