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O Caledonia
 
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O Caledonia (Paperback)

by Elspeth Barker (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (30 Jul 1992)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140154728
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140154726
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 225,781 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
This first novel explores the chain of events which, in the social circumstances and mores of Scotland of the forties and fifties, cause the bizarre death of a young girl. This novel won the RSL's Winifred Holtby Prize for the best regional novel of the year.

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gothic comedy and tragedy in 1950's Scotland, 10 Jun 1999
By A Customer
This hauntingly beautiful novel gets under your skin from the moment you read the first line. Janet is a dysfunctional teenager. Her struggles with the encroaching world of womanhood make for searingly comic reading, despite a dark underlay of doom. Weird and wonderful.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely enjoyable, 28 Sep 2006
This review is from: O Caledonia (Hardcover)
Elspeth Barker's macabre tragicomedy is mesmerising, haunting and entertaining. She uses language with a poet's deftness and evokes the east of Scotland not only through description, but also through the vernacular of the narration. The heroine of the piece, Janet, is an awkward and sympathetic character beautifully and believably constructed with a cast of characters that are so dislikeable as to emphasise Janet's alienation. Motifs and themes run through this short book giving clues pointing towards the sharp, exacting and tragic end that is the perfect finale to a tale of such bleak and bitter humour.
Half way through the book, I read a line which made me realise I had heard a snippet of this story on Radio Four's Book at Bedtime some thirteen years ago. For a single line, heard out of context, to have stayed with me for that long to have finally been put in its place is both satisfying and testament to the strength of Barker's prose.
I'd also like to add that it is a tragedy that this book is currently out of print.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliantly written, 1 Oct 2002
This review is from: O Caledonia (Hardcover)
This is one of my favourite books (and I read a lot). What makes this book special for me is the sheer beauty of the prose and Elspeth Barker's wonderful ability to blend tragedy and pathos with (black) comedy. The heroine is believable, loveable (in spite of, or because of her faults) and most of the other characters are very strange indeed! The only thing wrong with this book is that it is too short. I rationed myself to a set number of pages a night because I wanted to eke it out for as long as possible!

If you liked "The Grotesque" by Patrick McGrath you may enjoy this.

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