Novel approach

Where to start? | Suggest a pairing

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The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

The gentle Quoyle, duped and widowed, decides to leave everything behind him and resettle in a family house in Newfoundland. The prose expresses reticence of place and people, and Quoyle's tentative first steps in a world where the elements change lives. An extraordinary story of happiness.

I wish my whole battened
Heart were a property
Like this, with swallows
In every room…

Kathleen Jamie, The Tree House

This writing is so pared-down and unlike what you might expect of Poetry with a capital P, it can be a shock. But the cleanness of this style voices the subjects that interest Kathleen Jamie more and more – the land, how we live in it, what really counts when you strip away the nonsense that creeps in around us. Try reading this along with her book of essays, Findings.

The Tree House by Kathleen Jamie

Or try… Ian Hamilton Finlay, Jen Hadfield, Don MacKay

Pairings & synopses

	High Fidelity | Zoom!
	The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency | The Good Neighbour
	The Family Way | Newborn
	The Algebraist | Spirit Machines
	The God Of Small Things | Postcards From God
	The Night Watch | The Book Of Blood
	Fleshmarket Close | Dead Redhead
	Bridget Jones's Diary | Leaving And Leaving You
	Quite Ugly One Morning | Bad Shaman Blues
	The Shipping News | The Tree House
	Shadow Of The Wind | The Eyes
	Back When We Were Grownups | Granny Scarecrow