Something completely different. i enjoyed the battle between Eddie and Gnome and found myself wondering who would be the victor. Totally drawn in to the story of one person with two halves. Found myself wondering how it would end and wasn't disappointed

After previously spending time in 'A Palace of Curiosities' and travelling back to the 14th century with 'Vixen', I was over the moon to discover the same staggeringly talented author of these two books has a new one on the horizon - "The Night Brother".

Once again I find myself lost in the reverie of Rosie Garland’s exquisite writing. Extraordinarily enchanting, "The Night Brother"’s emotional bounty caresses each page to boldly pursue the trials that can divide and conquer.

Sharing a parallel existence, so one leads by day and the other by night, we see life through the eyes of Edie and Gnome (Herbert). These unique siblings occupy one body in a challenging world, where gender equality is a ludicrous notion and many battles are fought, both publicly and in private.

Edie's and Gnome’s personalities mature from mischievous children into adults eager spread their wings and take it in reluctant turns to dominate or deny each other’s presence. As happiness beckons they are hounded by confusion and insecurity. Although they are two sides of the same coin acceptance, rather than rejection, could be the difference between a fulfilled life or a forever tormented one.

This is an imaginative and affecting tale where the entire cast of this historical-fantasy-romance stage are performers each worthy of an Oscar. Their aspirations and chosen paths of personal contentment are inspired (particularly in the case of Edie/Gnome’s Nana – that was an excellent move!)

Embracing the intimacies and complexities of the heart and soul "The Night Brother" doesn’t feel like a story, but a delectable gift. All that remains is for me to offer a thunderous round of applause for what is simply an expressive, breath-taking wonder.

I can't resist - here is one of my favourite quotations (taken from the proof copy): "Perhaps love is measured not by how much radiance is keeps to itself, but by how much it shines upon the world."

I liked how this began, full of the tension between mystery and the mundane; Manchester in the late 19th century was vividly described and the characters well-drawn. It's a talent to be able to make the incredible seem perfectly plausible, and I was able to focus on the emotional conflict between Edie and Gnome rather than the impossibility of their existence. Despite being interested in the suffragettes, I found that whole section of the book oddly dry and not as compelling as it should have been, but the book as a whole was engaging and insightful as well as showcasing some gorgeous language.

This is a story about sexual equality and sibling rivalry. Set in 1890 Manchester Edie and Gnome sneak out and have fun watching the fireworks. They do everything together until they get older when they start resenting each other. We then found out that they are not brother and sister but the same person, Edie in the day then she changes into Gnome at night,

This is an excellent unique story, so different to others that I have read. I thought it was magical and it gripped me right up to the end. I loved it.

This storyline was unique to me, I don't think I have read anything set in Manchester. I was hooked from the first page, I thought the author did an amazing job in creating a really interesting and intriguing novel. Even though the novel is told in two different perspectives, it is very easy to tell them apart. Overall I enjoyed this dark novel and strongly recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction.

This book is gorgeous! I fell head-over-heels in love with it. I can't remember the last time I read anything like it. Beautiful, original and absorbing. I want to read it again and again, so I'll be buying a hardback copy and seeking out all of Rosie Garland's backlist. Thanks Borough Press!

I so loved this book!! Set in Manchester, my home city it was interesting to read about places I'd either visited myself or I knew about. Of course it wasn't my personal time frame but I enjoyed the historical information especially about the Suffragettes.

The book deals with gender, sexuality, loss, kinship, politics, duality and social change. It was easy to lose myself in the words as I ventured forth with the brother and sister who are the main characters in the novel.

I've never read a book by this author before but I'm avidly waiting for the next one!! Thoroughly recommended.

Edie and her brother Herbert, nicknamed Gnome, do everything together. As children, growing up above their mother's pub in late 19th-century Manchester, they roam the streets by night, sneaking into firework shows and exploring their town. But, as the years go on, Edie begins to resent Gnome. Every night he drags her out, forcing her to be more daring and naughtier than she wants to be. By day she's left empty and ragged. And the worst thing is that Ma and Nan tell her Gnome doesn't even exist. But he does. He comes every night, regular as clockwork, and Edie begins to dream of ways to control him...

This certainly isn't quite like any other novel I've read and it's hard to talk about it without spoilers. I suggest that, if the first paragraph whets your appetite, you read the book - don't read the back first - and then come back and share your thoughts below. If you carry on, you run the risk of being spoiled. You have been warned.

I haven't read any of Rosie Garland's novels before, but she definitely has an original mind. As Edie and Gnome grow older, their battle for dominance becomes ever stronger, their struggle exacerbated by Ma's blatant favouritism for her precious son and by the common growing pains of adolescence. The two siblings find themselves growing ever more different, Gnome seeking out the rough pleasures of Manchester low life, while Edie strives for self-improvement, frequenting the library and trying to find a path out of her miserable existence. Both begin to loathe the other and, as their childhood closeness evaporates, the siblings embark on a bitter war in which, they believe, only one of them can win. But can a balance be forced to favour only one side, or is compromise possible?

Real spoilers lie in this paragraph, so beware. I found Garland's concept enthralling, but I suppose I wanted slightly more explanation from the novel. How are we, as readers, meant to understand Edie's and Gnome's situation? Is it meant to be some magical curse, placed upon the family? If so, who placed it, when and for what reason? Or is it a slightly fantastical medical issue? If so, what is the physiological explanation behind it? In which circumstances could Edie become pregnant and carry a child to term, as her mother and grandmother have presumably done? Would she have to block Gnome out for nine months? And what of her father? Was there ever a father at all? Does this condition enable self-fertilisation (though the mind boggles at the logistics of that)? Are they the only ones in the world who suffer like this? I appreciated the cameo appearance by the Nereid Monument, of course, but the classical equivalent of the hermaphrodite really isn't the same thing as what Garland offers us. We are very explicitly not dealing with hermaphroditism here, nor with intersexuality, but a kind of very fluid sexual and psychological binarism. The story is fine as a story, but I couldn't help feeling that such an interesting idea needed more exploration.

However, this is definitely something a bit different, with its 19th-century setting and its creative exploration of gender fluidity, sexual identity and lifestyle choices. It will surely appeal to those who've enjoyed Laura Lam's Micah Grey novels, Sarah Waters, or Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex - an incongruous mix, perhaps, but one that makes for a genuinely unique novel.

For the post, due to go live on 12 May 2017, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/05/12/the-night-brother-rosie-garland