Rosemary Nixon

It was by pure chance that I picked this book up from work one day. Honestly, it was the feel of the paper that caught my attention--I love books printed on thick luxurious pages. Told through a series of short chapters of varying narrative viewpoints, Kalila is the story of a child's birth that didn't go as expected. Her parents must each cope with the devastation of their daughter's barrage of health problems, and adapt to a new form of family life between home and the natal intensive care unit of the hospital. The prose was raw and emotional, yet almost lyrical in its brief, staccato sentences. Poignant and heartbreaking, I wept throughout my reading of the novel and am honestly at a loss over whom I could recommend it… (mais)

Kalila is tightly drawn. The prose is exact. The chapters are often only two pages long, never lengthy. The point-of-view shifts, offering multiple perspectives from which the reader can assemble their own experience of the events. It is vivid and bold, but not distanced. It is heartful, but not indulgently sentimental. Rosemary Nixon has produced a fine work of fiction.

This work is discussed in detail on BuriedInPrint.… (mais)