A series of short stories linked by a mysterious chest of drawers. It feels like a reach - sure, the chest of drawers feature in each story, but does that make the tales any more coherent in their relationship to one another? Absolutely not. I really enjoyed ‘Swimming Holes’ and how it explored the importance of the past. Without revealing too much: the overwhelming emotion of discovering a long hidden betrayal and how the character processed the consequences was fascinating. I empathised with this character. While the rest of the stories features characters in complex and harrowing situations, namely the Holocaust, I found these characters to be cold and unrelenting in their distance. Krauss is clearly a brilliant author, her writing style is superb, but this novel felt demeaning in its haughtiness. 2/5 ⭐️ #greathouse #nicolekrauss #contemporaryfiction #orangeprizeforfiction #orangeprize #fiction #ukbookstagram #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaYBoYlP8i/?igshid=1suabfz5hr0jn
