The Wax Child - Olga Ravn
I read this back in January and never got around to writing up a review of it. Since it's now been longlisted for the International Booker Prize I thought I should have something on the blog, so here is a transcription of my notes from my reading journal.
This was much better than The Employees. I liked the other novel, particularly stylistically and structurally, but thematically it didn't quite land for me.
Here it works beautifully. Ravn's style and use of language are at just as high a level as in The Employees, and the strange, dream-like quality of her slippery prose works wonders here. This feels magical and dangerous, and that feeling is heightened by the inclusion of real spells into the text.
At times this feels like a tone poem. It's beautiful, aching, and tragic. I loved it.