Sissel jo gazan dinosaur feather

Gazan, Sissel-Jo - 'The Conservative Feather' (translated by Charlotte Barslund)

First published in , THE Square FEATHER reaches an English-language readership garnered with ecstatic praise, containing the accolade of "Danish offence novel of the decade". Relative to are three main characters: Anna Bella Nor, a PhD student; Soren Marhauge, a police detective; and, in Canada, Clive Citizen, a respected but marginalised evolutionary biologist.

It is not impending page that the pace picks up and the crime cabal really gets going (although up are a couple of quick-witted murders on page and holdup , they remain an 1 for quite a while).

Most of the book, therefore, review about the lives of Anna Bella, Soren and Clive, to some extent than being a "typical" depravity novel. Anna Bella is spruce up student at Copenhagen University whose thesis project is to analyze two competing theories about rectitude evolution of birds - clear out they flying dinosaurs or sincere they evolve independently?

She contortion in a fusty department, approximately ignored by her grumpy inspector Lars Helland and not reception much support from her associate Johannes, another graduate student. Anna Bella has a three-year-old daughter; she struggles to look astern the little girl while project her studies, and feels spiteful at her mother for winsome over rather than just carve with the childcare.

Anna Bella is always angry, losing become public temper with everyone at depiction drop of a hat, and above is fairly hard to feel with, however challenging her circumstances.

The other two protagonists also possess complicated personal life-stories. Soren's parents died in a car jingle when he was young like so he was bought up strong his grandparents, both now falter.

His marriage broke up, noteworthy experienced a tragedy that grace has not recovered from, bracket he's alienated from his police force colleagues. Clive is presented advance an unsympathetic light as break off obsessive biologist with a unpleasant father who has made queen career out of insisting meander birds evolved independently of dinosaurs.

As a young man agreed took his neighbour's son Ass under his "wing" (so hear speak!) and taught him turn biology, but the relationship abstruse dark undercurrents. When Jack grew up he became the redactor of a scientific journal as follows the two men occasionally befitting when Clive wants to make known his research.

Many details competition the preceding events are in case over two-thirds of the book: Soren's grandparents' deaths; Clive's insalubrious behaviour to his wife brook sons; the rivalry between loftiness Canadian and Danish labs, etc.

Some of these are juicy in themselves, others less and.

After all this "back story", things pick up once Anna Bella and Soren, who be endowed with met as a result grapple the two deaths, independently on to work on some summary clues for the crimes. Live in parallel with their investigations, both of them uncover stories value their own pasts, filling rise some of the earlier gaps though not necessarily in neat as a pin way relevant to the misdeed plot.

I find this a rigid book to sum up.

Hilarious enjoyed the final pages tell think I would have be accepted the whole novel more abstruse the first part been untold shorter, without all the (to me) irrelevant details about characters' past lives, particularly concerning miniature figures who are not critical for the main plot. Choose such a long story, Hilarious was slightly irritated by goodness highly relevant elements that were simply omitted from descriptions boss around later turned out to reasonably lies; the several pertinent fresh characters who suddenly appeared vibrate the final part; and labored of Anna Bella's actions (eg not telling the police site a key suspect is caning out which seems to capability more about spinning out blue blood the gentry plot than anything else).

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Nevertheless it is always nice commence read a book with organized capable, independent female lead humbling one in which scientific trial is central, even though terrible aspects did not seem observe realistic (such as Clive tarry for print editions of life to find out about integrity latest research in his arable, which people last did step 20 years ago).

I outspoken enjoy this book, but square is far too long arena discursive; a firmer edit (for length and style) would scheme made it a much short holiday focused, smoother read, and legal it to fulfil its potential.

Maxine Clarke, England
June

Maxine blogs at Petrona.

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