Astray
Author: Emma Donoghue
After Room, Donoghue’s bestseller about an abused woman and her child, Astray follows a very different path. Donoghue writes vignettes based on 1800 and 1900 newspaper articles, mostly just mentions, of a tragic circumstance. She creates a panorama of characters for each news article and portrays a fictional version of the characters involved, presenting the life and time of the characters beautifully.
Very different from her fiction novels, Astray reminds us of history and the tangible weariness and poverty in the creation of her characters. Poignant, historically well rendered, Astray is a volume by a talented author whose voice contains the nuances of her lost characters and their emotions.
“From Puritan Massachusetts to revolutionary New Jersey, from antebellum Louisiana to a Toronto highway, lighting up four centuries of wanderings that have profound echoes in the present, Astray offers us a surprising and moving history for restless times”.
Astray
Ratings are based on a 5-star scale
Overall: 3.5
Review by Broad “A” – Ava
We received a copy of this title for our book review. All opinions are our own.
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