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Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson (view source)
Revision as of 14:29, 28 February 2018
, 14:29, 28 February 2018no edit summary
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|title=Almost English
|author=Charlotte Mendelson
|website=http://charlottemendelson.com/
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Then, of course, there are ''boys''. Combe takes girls in the sixth form - but Marina isn't used to boys at all. There's a crush on one of them but it's Guy Viney in the Fivers who takes a shine to Marina. He's younger than her and in a year below, but that seems to be all she feels that she deserves. What she didn't know was that his father is a famous historian - and he seems prepared to mentor Marina.
Charlotte Mendelson is the perfect observer: she captures in a few words the essence of a person or of a relationship and her depiction of the three sisters, Rozsi, Zsuzsi and Ildi is exquisite. They're embarrassing but you can't help but like them. They're well meaning, adore Marina and are a little ''loud'' and not really ''controllable'' as Marina finds out when they come to see her at Combe. There's no mistaking their background - everything is '''von''-darefool'' or '''tair''-ible'' - and there are lots more gems in the glossary and pronunciation at the back of the book.
The balance between Marina and her mother, Laura is elegant. There's no animosity between them but somehow neither can quite manage to tell the other what they're thinking , how they're feeling. Marina is desperately homesick and Laura is heartsick for her child - but neither can say. Both think that the other is doing well without them - which, of course, makes matters worse. And Laura can't tell ''anyone'' about the last man she expected to come back into her life, despite knowing that she should.
''Almost English'' is longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker prize. We can also recommend [[The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan]].
{{toptentext|list=Man Booker Prize 2013}}
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