The Land of Decoration

The Land of Decoration

First edition
Author Grace McCleen
Cover artist Eleni Kalorkoti[1]
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Publisher Chatto & Windus (UK)
Publication date
01 March 2012
Media type Print
Pages 304
Awards Betty Trask Award
Desmond Elliott Prize
ISBN 0-7011-8681-X

The Land of Decoration is the debut novel by British author Grace McCleen published in 2012 by Chatto & Windus. It won the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2012[2] and the Betty Trask Award in 2013.[3] It was chosen along with three American novels by The Sunday Times Literary Editor as one of the four most promising debuts of 2012.[4] It became one of Waterstones’ 11,[5] an Oprah favourite,[6] has so far been translated into nineteen languages and was selected by the Richard and Judy Book Club.[7] It has been optioned by Life of Pi producer Gil Netter to be adapted by Kelly Marcel.[8]

Plot Introduction

The story is about ten-year-old Judith, who lives with her father John in a small town, as members of a fundamentalist sect they warn their neighbours of the approaching armageddon. Motherless and bullied at school Judith seeks escape in her bedroom where she has recreated the town as an elaborate model, which she calls the 'Land of Decoration', a phrase she takes from Ezekiel.[9] She wonders if she makes it snow in her miniature world whether she can prevent school from opening. The next morning the October landscape outside her window is blanketed in white. This is just the first of her miracles, but with her power comes trouble as her father's work-colleagues come out on strike and the bullying at school intensifies.

Inspiration

Speaking of her childhood in Wales, McCleen says "I grew up in a fundamentalist religion and didn’t have much contact with non-believers. My parents weren’t typical converts so we didn’t have much contact with other believers either. When I was ten I was taken out of school and we moved to the country [Ireland]. I spent all the time in the fields with two sheepdogs, or making things in my room".[10]

Reception

Reviews were generally positive :

External links

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.