So maybe that sentiment affects novellas as well in the UK.įor me, the heart of this novella is a wildfire. We also don’t celebrate the short story as much as, say, in the States. the UK, just to clarify for our international readers.

They are so intense but compact, so that every word has to count, and it’s about what is left out as much as what’s included. But actually, I’m sure novellas are just as hard to write as something longer. Perhaps publishers think it puts readers off because they aren’t getting a big, chunky tome that must have taken the author ten years to write and will take a couple of weeks to read. I think that’s because they worry that readers consider value for money when they buy a book. The story can be sucked up all in one go, and that’s a wonderful thing.Ĭorrect me if I’m wrong, but I think publishers are a bit leery of publishing novellas these days. All the novellas I’ve chosen you can read in two or three hours, so you don’t need to stop to go to sleep, to cook the dinner, to change a nappy or whatever else it is you have to do. For me, as a reader, I think novellas are about being able to get into a story that is intense and engrossing-more so than a short story-but one that you can hold in your head all in one go, unlike a longer novel. I don’t personally have an issue with attention span at the moment, but I know a lot of people do, so I can see that novellas would help with that. A lot of readers have been telling us recently that their attention span is shot-so short, powerful books like these are really welcome. Thank you for recommending to us five of the best novellas. Foreign Policy & International Relations.It is a portrait of life on the fringes of society that explores with dazzling emotional power how we can build our lives on broken foundations, and spin light from darkness. Unsettled Ground is a heart-stopping novel of betrayal and resilience, love and survival. Jeanie and Julius would do anything to preserve their small sanctuary against the perils of the outside world, even as their mother's secrets begin to unravel, putting everything they thought they knew about their lives at stake. Inside the walls of their old cottage they make music, and in the garden they grow (and sometimes kill) everything they need for sustenance.īut when Dot dies suddenly, threats to their livelihood start raining down. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty. Twins Jeanie and Julius have always been different from other people. What if the life you have always known is taken from you in an instant? Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021

Claire fuller unsettled ground