This book wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the writing and I couldn’t engage with the book. A disappointment

Wasn't a massive van of the poetic style of verse unfortunately, but I do think that this was a very interesting story, told in an original way.

The Sky Above the Roof is a poetically written story of an unconventional and dysfunctional French family, told through alternate perspectives of the mother, the son and the daughter as they go through various traumas and formative experiences which come to define the characters and their family relationships. The translation is excellent, with just enough French retained to keep the cultural flavour.

A recommended and thoughtful read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

The Sky Above the Roof is a poetically written story of an unconventional and dysfunctional French family, told through alternate perspectives of the mother, the son and the daughter as they go through various traumas and formative experiences which come to define the characters and their family relationships. The translation is excellent, with just enough French retained to keep the cultural flavour.

A recommended and thoughful read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

This was a beautifully poignant translated novel that was translated really well. It was beautifully written with a dual narrative and a heartwrenching storyline. A wonderful novel

Seventeen-year-old Wolf has not seen his beloved sister for a decade when he drives off in Phoenix’s car. Paloma escaped her mother as soon as she could, leaving her brother to his anxieties, no longer able to cope with this woman who had kept her children at arms’ length their entire lives. Phoenix was once Eliette, the late child of a couple proud of their beautiful daughter with her angelic voice, parading her before the town, tricked out in makeup and grown-up costumes, seemingly unaware of the increasingly pressing male attention focussed on her. Now she’s a single mother, closed off and tough, faced with her son's desperate need for connection. After the eight days of Wolf’s detention, these three wounded souls will be reunited, all of them changed.

The narrative perspective shifts from character to character, unfolding the story of how this family came to be so divided in vivid episodes. Its almost dreamlike quality and the beauty of Nathacha Appanah’s language lends her novella an effecting poignancy, saving it from a bleakness that might otherwise have overwhelmed it, and her characters are beautifully drawn. Extraordinarily impressive, and kudos to Geoffrey Strachan for his excellent translation.

One of my goals for 2022 is to read more translated novels and if you have the same aim then Nathacha Appanah's The Sky Above the Roof should absolutely be on your list. Translated from the original French by Geoffrey Strachan, The Sky Above the Roof is a heartrending story of the insidious web of trauma, told from alternating perspectives. The story actually works backwards from a tragic, pivotal event and it's fascinating discovering the story from this angle - a stark reminder that every action has consequences and every life-changing event is a culmination of myriad mistakes, injustices and seemingly inconsequential decisions.

Appanah's writing is beautiful and absolutely makes this novel sing the way it does. In less deft hands this story could feel clumsy and I think the plot could have gotten away from a different sort of writer, but Appanah (and Strachan) did such a wonderful job. I can't wait for readers to discover Wolf and his family in 2022.

A poignant novel but I found my attention drifted often. Beautifully written however, at times the plot was confusing.

I was really taken with the premise of this novel and was looking forward to reading it. When I received my copy, I realised that it was only around 150 pages and was curious as to how this story would unfold over such a short period of time.

It is often difficult for stories which deal with complex, human emotions to evolve over such a short novel however I think the author deals with it well here. This is a story about fractious family relationships (and who amongst us can't relate to that).

I do think the book would have benefitted from an additional 50-100 pages to more fully lay out the story however it was a good effort.

Thanks to Quercus Books, MacLehose Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.