Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye. This week I’ve selected three from the last pages of my Kindle (meaning they’ve been there for years!) – I have no idea how I came across any of them.
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
Summary: A bloke with four wives and twenty-eight children has a midlife crises.
I’m thinking: Maybe – great concept (and Udall’s writing I compared to that of John Irving) but 500+ pages?
Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander
Summary: Solomon Kugel and his family settle in the quiet and unremarkable town of Stockton, New York, but between his mother’s reminiscing about the Nazi concentration camps she never actually suffered through and the existence of a town firebug, Solomon discovers rural life is hectic.
I’m thinking: Yes.
The Uninvited by Liz Jensen
Summary: A seven-year-old girl puts a nail gun to her grandmother’s neck and fires. An isolated incident, say the experts. The experts are wrong. Across the world, children are killing their families.
I’m thinking: No. Couldn’t get past the first page.
Udall would have to do a lot of work to get me on side for a man who’s created the life he wants and now is having a midlife crisis – boo hoo. (I’m a horrible person). I like the sound of the Auslander though!
The Lonely Polygamist could be interesting if done well. Look forward to hearing about it if you do read it.
I enjoyed Liz Jensen’s earlier novels but The Uninvited doesn’t appeal at all
Hope: A Tragedy could be interesting but the other two have no appeal to me at all
Hope: A Tragedy is one of my absolute favourites. Hilarious in a very dark way. I’ve ruled out the Udall before based on the length.