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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Review - Robinson by Muriel Spark

A short read quickly finished mainly because of the hype and recommendations of other bloggers! so I had to know quickly....

January Marlow is one of three survivors of a plane crash on the island of Robinson. They have to wait for three months for the arrival of the pomegranate boat to get back to civilization. Their host Robinson is a taciturn, not very welcoming host who wants them gone as quickly as possible and has to tolerate them - just barely whilst they are there.

On Robinson's suggestion January maintains a journal not realizing the journal could be the cause for her murder. On this tropical little island a mix of everything comes to play - a disappearance which very much looks like murder, a boiling volcano called the Furnace, sexual tension and sexual competition, an orphan whose origins are shrouded in mystery, blackmail, mystery and adventure.

All this packed into a little book. This is the clever bit. The descriptiveness of the story is one of the highlights of this book - they stay in your head long after the book is read "the mustard field staring at me with a yellow eye" is one which will stick with me for a long while!

4 comments:

  1. Hello Mystica!
    Thank you so much for your kind comment on my blog - I'm glad you found me and I'm so glad to meet you and to find your lovely blog!
    This is the first proper "book blog" I have come across so I'm excited!
    I love reading too so I shall enjoy visiting you.
    Hope you have a great day
    Gill x

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  2. When I think of escape to an isolated tropical island it doesn't include murder and mayham. Thanks for sharing your review.

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  3. "the mustard field staring at me with a yellow eye" is sure something that I have not come across often

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  4. This sounds like a worthy read. I have enjoyed this author in the past.

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