Publishers Weekly
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The fifth novel by Australian author Grenville (Lilian's Story, Joan Makes History) won Britain's prestigious Orange Prize last year and, at its best, it's easy to see why. It is an oddly uneven book, however, sometimes dazzlingly lyrical, compassionate and smart, but occasionally arch and rather clumsy. In the tiny backwater town of Karakarook, New South Wales, where everyone knows everyone else's business, two improbable outsiders fall very tentatively in love. Douglas Cheeseman is an engineer, sent to replace a historic bridge some townsfolk believe could be made into a tourist attraction. Museum curator Harley Savage has come from Sydney to create an exhibit of rural applied arts. The atmosphere of the town and the sunbaked, somnolent countryside is brilliantly rendered, and so, usually, are the prickly, deeply self-doubting lead characters; the use of a wonderfully observed dog as Harley's companion throughout is masterly. At other times, however, Grenville seems to be mocking her protagonists, as when Douglas is backed up to a fence by some cows, and the climactic scene, where he does something unwontedly brave, is forced. The subplot about a banker's self-regarding wife who allows herself to be seduced by a Chinese-born butcher is too coy by half. These elements are only disappointing because the book, when on target, is so remarkably clear-sighted about, yet fond of, its quirky characters. (Apr. 1) Forecast: The prize, noted on the cover, should certainly help to draw attention, and the book is readable and likable enough to earn good word of mouth. Admirers of Grenville's previous work are likely to be more critical. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Saving the picturesque Bent Bridge becomes both cause and catalyst for the most unlikely of love affairs when social outcasts Douglas Cheeseman and Harley Savage descend on a wayward village in the remote Australian outback. With his protruding ears and paralyzing insecurities, Douglas is hard-driving Harley's temperamental opposite, because she is fiercely independent and considers herself «dangerous.» Eagerly collaborating to restore the old bridge to new glory, both reluctantly demolish their particular emotional barriers in an equally restorative and life-affirming process. If the Australian bush is a stark and unforgiving land, utterly devoid of delicacy or detail, then the emotional terrain of Grenville's characters lies in dramatic contrast to their surroundings, for these are people who obsess over the infinitesimal subtleties and nuances of social interactions: each remark is questioned for its appropriateness, each gesture subjected to intense scrutiny. Through these easily recognizable and universally human behaviors, Grenville rivals Proulx in perfectly marrying people to place in a richly textured, warmly wry portrait of quixotic characters longing for acceptance. Carol Haggas.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
There's a smile-if not an outright belly laugh-on every page of this delicious comic novel (winner of Britain's 2001 Orange Prize), the fifth from the Australian author (Albion's Story, 1994, etc.). The setting is the amiable little backwater of Karakarook in New South Wales, to which engineer Douglas Cheeseman is sent, to supervise the dismantling of the town's moribund landmark, the Bent Bridge. At the same time, Harley Savage, an irreversibly plain middle-aged woman who has left three husbands and as many sons behind her, arrives in Karakarook to help its Heritage Committee build a museum celebrating indigenous arts and crafts (Harley being a sometime curator, and an expert quilter). The tenuous, ineffably awkward relationship between Harley and Douglas is played out within a richly funny context of local folks and their doings, beginning when the two collide on the street, after which she inadvertently rescues him from an angry cow, their first "date" (for tea) leaves both with food poisoning, and they're forced to decision point when the good women of the Heritage Committee form a "blockade" against bulldozers aimed at the Bent Bridge. Meanwhile, the town banker's beautiful wife Felicity Porcelline finds herself helplessly attracted to Karakarook's Chinese butcher (and amateur photographer) Alfred Chang-with predictably disastrous seriocomic consequences. Grenville moves among their separate (and conjoined) stories with easy skill. The unfailingly delightful incidents dramatize the demolition of each major character's "idea of perfection": Felicity lives for physical beauty; Harley labors to subsume her vagrant "dangerous streak" into preservation of the environment and the past; Douglas worships the beauty of logical structures and the bountiful usefulness of concrete. All-including the stray dog that attaches itself to Harley-eventually discover the considerable pleasures of human (and animal) imperfection. Wonderful entertainment: a cockeyed romance that will have you cheering for all of these unlikely, wayward lovers.
Library Journal
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Winner of the 2001 Orange Prize, this novel, which takes place in fictional Karakarook, Australia, is an awkward romance involving unlikely lovers who come together by chance. The residents of this town are divided over the heritage of the old Bent Bridge. Douglas Cheeseman, a shy, middle-aged, plain-looking, divorced engineer who suffers from vertigo, was sent to Karakarook to demolish this old wooden bridge and replace it with a new concrete one. Harley Savage, a tall, hefty, distant, middle-aged woman who works as a textile artist and a consultant at the Sydney Museum, was sent to organize a Heritage Museum to save the bridge as a historic site. Grenville's drawn-out discussions on the construction of bridges, piers, and concrete are too long. Although it is interesting to listen to tales of other cultures and learn about the country's stereotypes, some of the language is confusing. Grenville's people are idiosyncratic; there are numerous lengthy dialogs as the central players recall their childhood and how the world they lived in shaped their experiences, and both Douglas and Harley undergo a transformation, radically changing their beliefs. Read by Odette Joannidis, The Idea of Perfection is written in the third person: each chapter takes the point of view of one of the main characters, which at times makes it difficult to follow. Public libraries should purchase for demand.-Carol Stern, Glen Cove Lib., NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
This fifth novel by renowned Australian author Grenville (Lilian's Story), winner of the Orange Prize, presents the story of two people, both divorced, who for differing reasons are residing temporarily in a small town in the Australian bush. How Douglas, an awkward engineer, and Harley, a plain, big-boned museum curator, meet up as well as connect with the townspeople they are to work with is described with a compassionate eye for human frailty. While unfolding the lives of Douglas and Harley, Grenville depicts the life of the town and some of its eccentric inhabitants, using an effective blend of humor, sensuality, and pathos. She nicely contrasts urban and rural living and shows how even those who work to preserve the historical past may themselves remain haunted by their own personal histories. Both Grenville's description of small-town life in a harsh and rugged environment and her endearing portrayal of the minds and hearts of two people make for a satisfying and memorable read. Recommended for most fiction collections. Maureen Neville, Trenton P.L., NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.