Imagen del autor

Anbara Salam

Autor de Belladonna

3+ Obras 118 Miembros 4 Reseñas

Obras de Anbara Salam

Belladonna (2020) 48 copias
Things Bright and Beautiful (2018) 37 copias
Hazardous Spirits (2023) 33 copias

Obras relacionadas

This Arab Is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ Arab Writers (2022) — Contribuidor — 39 copias

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Nacionalidad
UK
Biografía breve
Anbara Salam is half-Palestinian and half-Scottish, and grew up in London. She has a PhD in Theology and is now a research associate at the University of Oxford. She spent six months living on a small South Pacific island, and her experiences there served as the inspiration for her first novel, Things Bright and Beautiful (Penguin books)

Miembros

Reseñas

A plodding three stars to start the year! The story/theme ratio is tipped heavily towards the latter, particularly spirituality and class in post war Britain (yawn), teasing the reader with missing children and seances, while the characters are generally unlikeable. Evelyn, in whose head we are unfortunately trapped, is a whining and dithering middle class housewife, obsessed with keeping up appearances and her sister's death six years ago. 'Sensitive' husband Robert gets bitten by the spiritualist bug and finally grows a spine. There is also a dramatic swerve into Bright Young Things territory midway through the meandering narrative, as if the author thought, 'Shit! 1920s! Almost forgot the substance abuse and country house parties!' I did like the author's writing, but I was bored throughout. Try harder, 2024!… (más)
 
Denunciada
AdonisGuilfoyle | otra reseña | Jan 3, 2024 |
Set 1920’s Scotland during the spiritualism revival, Hazardous Spirits by Anbara Salam is the story of Evelyn, a young woman whose life is upended when her husband, Robert, announces he can communicate with the dead. The First World War and flu epidemic have left people looking for meaning, connection, and desperate to know lost loved ones are safe and content after death. Evelyn finds herself struggling to support her husband’s new interest while the gap with her family grows wider. As Robert’s profile rises the company they keep becomes more prominent, and more bizarre. The question remains, does Evelyn really believe in his powers?

This is a story of what we do to support those we love even at extreme personal cost to ourselves. What can we rationalize, what can become normal? It’s a look at no matter how outrageous, irrational, or unstable a man acts often a woman’s sanity is questioned, she should be meditated, her interpretation must be flawed. Salam does a fantastic job using both location and time as its own character to set the mood. The information on spiritualism was enough for readers to clearly understand the context, but not take over the story. (I was off on a deep dive reading about the era because I found it fascinating!) I loved the backstory created for Evelyn that added so much depth and helped inform her actions. I also loved the character of Flossie, the evolution of how Evelyn sees her friendship. I’m not usually one for ambiguous endings but I think it works very well here, allowing resolution without a neat bow.

I recommend for those that love atmospheric books for spooky season, love stories that delve into seances, fortune tellers, and appreciate morally grey characters. Thank you to my friends at Tin House Publishing for the advanced review copy.
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Denunciada
FlowerchildReads | otra reseña | Oct 19, 2023 |
Perceptive and great sense of time and place! Salam is a master of descriptive nuance and I loved the sensuality and evocative setting. Pacing wise it feels a tad rushed at the end and we never quite side with Bridget- but who says narrators have to be likeable?
 
Denunciada
boredgames | Mar 4, 2020 |
How to describe ‘Things Bright and Beautiful’ by Anbara Salam? It is a tale of the 1950s set on a Pacific island where the author authentically creates the sweltering heat, the humidity, the tropical jungle and the natives. It is a claustrophobic tale of differing religious beliefs where confusion, conviction and malaria bring about an unexpected ending. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, it was a wild card choice and I really enjoyed it.
Bea and Max Hanlon arrive on Advent Island in the remote New Hebrides as Max takes up his post as island missionary to spread the word to the heathen natives. It is not what they expected. Bea is soon picking rat droppings from their bag of rice while Max deals with a lack of clocks making scheduling a morning service difficult. Not to mention the group praying and singing at night, this ‘dark praying’ is intended to expel dark spirits and is done outside the Mission House whilst Max and Bea attempt to sleep. The authorial tone is at first fond and humorous as Bea and Max face up to their difficulties shackled by language differences and the late arrival of their trunks. They are literally thrown in at the deep end. Bea negotiates the many taboos and starts a kitchen garden. I particularly enjoyed the description of one mysterious vegetable as ‘hedge’. But their house is their own, until the previous missionary reappears unannounced. The always-humming Marietta cannot take a hint and tramps around as if she owns the place. She is the grit on which the story takes a dark and threatening turn.
Two small criticisms. There are so many peripheral characters with island names that I ceased to remember who was who. And at times the island dominated character and plot.
If you are looking for a novel in which to lose yourself, this is it. An atmospheric, spooky and at times downright yucky tale of how religion can turn quickly into fanaticism. It is about a fight for survival in a world which starts off as a dream and ends as a nightmare. I enjoyed Bea’s journey as she adapts to her new world, makes the best of things, makes friends, ignores the silliest taboos and gets herself into trouble.
In the jungle, is it the fittest that survive or the cleverest? A highly imaginative debut.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/
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Denunciada
Sandradan1 | Oct 17, 2018 |

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Estadísticas

Obras
3
También por
1
Miembros
118
Popularidad
#167,490
Valoración
3.8
Reseñas
4
ISBNs
21

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