|
Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Book
Reviews From our Archives |
August 2004 |
Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi, Key Porter Books, 262 pages, hardcover, $29.95
By Alidë Kohlhaas
Sometimes, when you try to express your admiration for a newly published book, you are met with most unexpected responses. My attempt to share my positive feelings about Trezza Azzopardi's second book, Remember Me, completely failed with a friend.
What threw my friend was Remember Me's subject. "Why would anyone want to write about a bag lady?" she asked, disgust in her voice. My feeble response was, "Why not?" As I see it, every human life hides a story worth telling. Trezza Azzopardi obviously thinks so, too. She recognized this fact when she researched her book, inspired loosely by one Nora Bridle, a resident of the streets of Cardiff. Azzopardi moved her character to Norwich, where this young Welsh writer now makes her home.
Azzopardi captures 70 years of a woman's lost life, a life that would destroy most anyone, yet — in a strange way — its potent mixture of extremes also kept the protagonist of this tale alive. By now the sight of homeless men, women and even teenagers is no longer unusual in cities across the world. Perhaps not all of us can remember the first time we stepped over, or walked past, someone on a sidewalk. I can remember mine. It was in Paris, decades ago. There, bundles of humanity lay on top of the metal gratings to catch the warmth from the Paris Metro, huddled . . .
Azzopardi, whose first book was The Hiding Place, is the only writer whose debut novel has ever been short-listed for the Booker Prize. Hiding Place won the Geoffrey Faber memorial Prize, was long-listed for the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award.
To Read the full article, go to our ABOUT US page and click on Contact to request the item.
Copyright © 2004-9 CamKohl Arts Productions