Gliff
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Once upon a time, not very far from now, two children come home to find a line of wet red paint round the outside of their house . . .
So begins the freewheeling and urgent new novel from Ali Smith – the story of two young people and a horse called Gliff, on the run from history as it takes a turn for the worse.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
To put it simply, this is a dystopian novel set in the not-so-distant future. It’s mostly narrated by a non-binary character named Briar (also known as Bri and Brice), who looks back from an even darker future on the time when, at thirteen, they and their sister Rose were separated from their mother due to the sinister actions of a totalitarian regime. Left largely to survive on their own, their bleak and uncertain life takes on new meaning when Rose becomes attached to a horse destined for slaughter, whom she names Gliff. To avoid spoilers, I’ll stop there – but I’m eagerly awaiting the second part of the story. (Katona József Könyvtár)