Astonishing Splashes of Colour - Claire Morrall

Advantages: Unputdownable
Disadvantages: In some ways almost too short

Astonishing Splashes of Colour is the first novel by Clare Morrall and was shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize 2003. The book itself is the first published book by its author, and I think it was the Astonishing Splashes of Colour that make up its cover that attracted me towards its purchase in the first place. The title itself is inspired by Peter Pan, “For the Neverland is always more or less an Island with astonishing splashes of colour here and ...
...character Kitty Wellington, and is set in a familiar part of Birmingham that is Edgbaston in the present time. Kitty herself is the youngest of six adult children, including a runaway elder sister who she does not remember, and four older brothers. Kitty does not remember her Mother either, as she died in a car accident when she was three years old. For the bulk of the book, Kitty herself speaks of a time as a 30 something married female who is ... Read review

Advantages: beautifully written
Disadvantages: ?

Astonishing is a good word isn’t it. It sounds open mouthed and breathless with wonder. Which makes it quite a good one to have emblazoned along the top of your debut novel. Clare Morrall’s book is a colourful, breathtakingly simple work that infuses you to the core. Her writing style is eloquent, perfect in it’s pitch, and I’m not surprised for a second that this is (another) Booker shortlist nomination. The story itself is a fairly basic one, ...
...of plot which lends it so well to such character development, and layers of emotion to be revealed. Kitty Wellington is our narrator throughout, a scatty woman in her early thirties, the youngest of six children. I think first person narratives can sometimes be very weak, but not so here. Kitty’s mother and older sister Dinah have long since gone, leaving Kitty and her four brothers to be brought up by their painter father in a rambling old house ... Read review