Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
9/28/21; 448 pages
The Text Publishing Company
Winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down is a highly recommended traumatic and heartbreaking story of the life of one Australian woman. Maggie's life has consisted of one appalling, traumatic experience after an other, starting with her childhood, her time in foster/group care homes and continuing with heartbreaking, dreadful events into adulthood. This is the winner of the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
This is not a pleasant novel to read. It is distressing, bleak, and
harrowing throughout the entire novel. Yes, the quality of the writing
is excellent, but the narrative never gives the reader a true pause from
the feeling of a life of futility and hopelessness. There are brief
periods where you think she is going to overcome her past experiences
and live a fulfilling life, but they are brief as another horrific turn
of events will quickly follow. Maggie does keep trying to cope with
everything. The first half of the novel is stronger than the last half.
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