Book Bites | Audrey Magee, Natasha Calder, Elle Kennedy

The Colony 

Audrey Magee, Faber & Faber

**** (4 stars)

Longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022, The Colony is set on an island off the west coast of Ireland in 1979. Englishman Mr Lloyd and Frenchman Mr Masson have both made their way here — artist Lloyd to paint its landscapes as a new body of work he hopes will revive his career, and linguist Masson as part of his study of the dying Irish language. The island is home to neither, but the two end up “squabbling over our turf”, as one of the islanders remarks, while the locals have different troubles to worry about. Interspersed through the main narrative, the reader is offered snippets of what The Troubles were like in Ireland. While Magee’s prose is lyrical and the book does a fine job of commenting on themes of colonisation and taking without giving in return, at times it feels as though the journey in getting there is too drawn out. — Sanet Oberholzer

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Whether Violent Or Natural 

Natasha Calder, Bloomsbury

*** (3 stars)

Imagine a world where bacteria devour plastic and antibiotics have been rendered useless. People die from diseases once easily treated. Surgeries are forbidden. A small cut can be fatal, while global famine rages. This is the world Kit and Craven hide from on their island, making do in their private landscape, nursing unseen traumas and wounds. Until a woman washes ashore and upends their world’s delicate balance. An intriguing psychological apocalyptic tale. — Tiah Beautement

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Rogue

Elle Kennedy, Little Brown

*** (3 stars)

This is the second book in the series set at elite prep school Sandover. Casey Tresscott has been cosseted by her family since a car accident on prom night. Her friendship with Fenn Bishop remains the talk of the town but he is keeping secrets about what happened that night. Casey is determined to get to the bottom of it and realises she has to rely on people she never would have associated with to get to the truth. Rogue is brimming with teenage angst, drama, bullying and more — the perfect book for a teen looking for something edgier than usual. — Jessica Levitt

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