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Hand Me Down World
A woman washes ashore in Sicily. She has come from north Africa to find her son, taken from her when he was just days old by his father and stolen away to Berlin. With nothing but her maid's uniform and a knife stashed in a plastic bag, she relies on strangers— some generous, some exploiting—to guide her passage north.
These strangers tell of their encounters with a quiet, mysterious woman in a blue coat—each account a different view of the truth, a different truth. And slowly these fragments of a life piece together to create a spellbinding story of the courage of a mother and the versions of truth we create to accommodate our lives.
Haunting and beautiful, Hand Me Down World is simply unforgettable.
These strangers tell of their encounters with a quiet, mysterious woman in a blue coat—each account a different view of the truth, a different truth. And slowly these fragments of a life piece together to create a spellbinding story of the courage of a mother and the versions of truth we create to accommodate our lives.
Haunting and beautiful, Hand Me Down World is simply unforgettable.
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Lloyd Jones
84 books135 followersLloyd Jones was born in 1955 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, a place which has become a frequent setting and subject for his subsequent works of fiction. He studied at Victoria University, and has worked as a journalist and consultant as well as a writer. His recent novels are: Biografi (1993); Choo Woo (1998); Here At The End of the World We Learn to Dance (2002); Paint Your Wife (2004);and Mister Pip (2007). He is also the author of a collection of short stories, Swimming to Australia (1991).
In 2003, he published a children's picture book, Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer, and this was followed by Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot (2004), a book for 9-14 year olds. He compiled Into the Field of Play: New Zealand Writers on the Theme of Sport (1992), and also wrote Last Saturday (1994), the book of an exhibition about New Zealand Saturdays, with photographs by Bruce Foster. The Book of Fame (2000), is his semi-fictional account of the 1905 All-Black tour, and was adapted for the stage by Carol Nixon in 2003.
Lloyd Jones won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) and the Kiriyama Prize for his novel, Mister Pip (2007), set in Bougainville in the South Pacific, during the 1990s. He was also shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In the same year he undertook a Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency.
In 2003, he published a children's picture book, Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer, and this was followed by Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot (2004), a book for 9-14 year olds. He compiled Into the Field of Play: New Zealand Writers on the Theme of Sport (1992), and also wrote Last Saturday (1994), the book of an exhibition about New Zealand Saturdays, with photographs by Bruce Foster. The Book of Fame (2000), is his semi-fictional account of the 1905 All-Black tour, and was adapted for the stage by Carol Nixon in 2003.
Lloyd Jones won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) and the Kiriyama Prize for his novel, Mister Pip (2007), set in Bougainville in the South Pacific, during the 1990s. He was also shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In the same year he undertook a Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 258 reviews
January 9, 2012
There are a number of novels where the story is told in a number of different voices, but I do believe this one may win the prize for the largest number of narrators. It is a bit reminiscent of modern television documentaries in which multiple people relate their experiences relating to a given topic; unlike television however, the story is not passive; it is one in which the reader has a job to do in interpreting what's really going on -- if he or she can find any reliability in the narration. Each narrator has his or her own slant on the truth -- and what they say speaks not only to the situation at hand but also to how they perceive and wish others to perceive them in the world each occupies.
Hand Me Down World is the story of a young woman in Tunisia whose quest for her young son begins in the middle of the Mediterranean, where she is dumped by human traffickers and told to hang on to a buoy until someone comes to pick her up. After a while it becomes obvious she's been duped, so she makes her way dog paddling onto the Italian coastline. There she takes on the name Ines, and with only a plastic bag in which she keeps only a few meager possessions, she begins to make her way to Berlin where her son's father lives. Her story is related by those with whom she comes into contact, and by Ines herself. This cast of characters include a truck driver, an elderly snail collector, an ex-pat Parisian who calls himself Millennium Three, a researcher from the UK sent to study the Roma culture in Berlin, and others that bump into Ines along the way. After the book introduces all of these people (and a few more), the most involved narrations begin with Ralf, an elderly blind man who hires Ines to view the world for him; Defoe, another lodger taken on by Ralf, and then there's Ines herself, whose account of things doesn't always coincide with what has already been said about her. The novel is structured sort of like a detective story, where there are conflicts among all of the narratives for the reader to sort and then try to piece together in some coherent fashion. And then there's the Inspector, whose purpose I won't reveal here, but who serves as sort of a compiler of all of the stories.
While the author explores Ines' search for her son and her experiences along the way, he is also able to veer off into other areas, especially the issues faced by immigrants trying to find a better life than the one they left behind, who often become "the real ghosts... those whom we choose not to see." But even as he's tackling this issue in a big way, running through the novel is theme of identity, most obviously examined in Ines but also among all of the other characters. There's also a great deal of thought offered about living with dignity instead of fear, a choice Ines and other characters have to consider in the hopes of having any kind of future.
While the prose may be a bit sparse in comparison to Jones' Mr. Pip, the pacing is good and appropriate for a novel like this one. In the first part of the book,the reader is not stuck on any one character or situation too long as Ines makes her way through Europe. As Ines continues her journey, the story also moves along and doesn't dwell too long in one spot . The second half moves a bit slower as it boils down to the stories of only a few characters in Berlin, and then of course, Ines herself. This part is not as quick to read through, but what makes it very interesting is how certain events are repeated and retold, offering a new slant on information received earlier in the novel.
I was very intrigued by this novel both in terms of structure and story; the multiple-voice approach is quite interesting and actually works well here as things are slowly revealed, little by little. Yet at the same time, just when I started thinking I had Ines figured out, the author throws in little curve balls that made me wonder if I knew her at all. This line of thought carries throughout the book, and actually, I'm walking away from the book wondering how well I really know anybody. If you're looking for a regular narrative story in linear format, keep looking -- this isn't the book for you. But if you want something intriguing that resonates long after the last page is turned, you might just want to give it a try.
Hand Me Down World is the story of a young woman in Tunisia whose quest for her young son begins in the middle of the Mediterranean, where she is dumped by human traffickers and told to hang on to a buoy until someone comes to pick her up. After a while it becomes obvious she's been duped, so she makes her way dog paddling onto the Italian coastline. There she takes on the name Ines, and with only a plastic bag in which she keeps only a few meager possessions, she begins to make her way to Berlin where her son's father lives. Her story is related by those with whom she comes into contact, and by Ines herself. This cast of characters include a truck driver, an elderly snail collector, an ex-pat Parisian who calls himself Millennium Three, a researcher from the UK sent to study the Roma culture in Berlin, and others that bump into Ines along the way. After the book introduces all of these people (and a few more), the most involved narrations begin with Ralf, an elderly blind man who hires Ines to view the world for him; Defoe, another lodger taken on by Ralf, and then there's Ines herself, whose account of things doesn't always coincide with what has already been said about her. The novel is structured sort of like a detective story, where there are conflicts among all of the narratives for the reader to sort and then try to piece together in some coherent fashion. And then there's the Inspector, whose purpose I won't reveal here, but who serves as sort of a compiler of all of the stories.
While the author explores Ines' search for her son and her experiences along the way, he is also able to veer off into other areas, especially the issues faced by immigrants trying to find a better life than the one they left behind, who often become "the real ghosts... those whom we choose not to see." But even as he's tackling this issue in a big way, running through the novel is theme of identity, most obviously examined in Ines but also among all of the other characters. There's also a great deal of thought offered about living with dignity instead of fear, a choice Ines and other characters have to consider in the hopes of having any kind of future.
While the prose may be a bit sparse in comparison to Jones' Mr. Pip, the pacing is good and appropriate for a novel like this one. In the first part of the book,the reader is not stuck on any one character or situation too long as Ines makes her way through Europe. As Ines continues her journey, the story also moves along and doesn't dwell too long in one spot . The second half moves a bit slower as it boils down to the stories of only a few characters in Berlin, and then of course, Ines herself. This part is not as quick to read through, but what makes it very interesting is how certain events are repeated and retold, offering a new slant on information received earlier in the novel.
I was very intrigued by this novel both in terms of structure and story; the multiple-voice approach is quite interesting and actually works well here as things are slowly revealed, little by little. Yet at the same time, just when I started thinking I had Ines figured out, the author throws in little curve balls that made me wonder if I knew her at all. This line of thought carries throughout the book, and actually, I'm walking away from the book wondering how well I really know anybody. If you're looking for a regular narrative story in linear format, keep looking -- this isn't the book for you. But if you want something intriguing that resonates long after the last page is turned, you might just want to give it a try.
February 17, 2023
‘To hold onto even a little is still to have it.’
This is the story of a woman we know as Ines: an African woman who travels illegally to Europe to try to find her son. Ines’s story is told through the narratives of various people she comes into contact with during her journey as they each hand her from one to the other, and then from her own perspective. This method of narration allows us to see how different people perceive and treat Ines (and each other) and how each person’s view of the world is shaped by their own perceptions and preoccupations.
‘Timing is everything in this world.’
As the novel opens, Ines is working as a maid in a Tunisian resort. She is seduced by a German guest and, after she gives birth to their son, is tricked into signing adoption papers for her lover and his wife. Ines does not accept the loss of her son in this way, and begins her journey to Germany. First, Ines places herself in the hands of people smugglers who leave her drifting in the sea of the coast of Sicily.
‘At night geography is the first thing to disappear.’
We learn of this first stage of Ines’s journey from a hotel supervisor and a police inspector who are the first two narrators. The other narrators and witnesses to Ines’s ordeal are an unsavoury Italian truck driver, a group of alpine hunters who prove adept at smuggling Ines over the high border into Austria, even though one of them disagrees, a British film researcher, a snail collector, and a blind German man. Each of these people plays some role in Ines’s search for her lost son.
Not every version of events is reliable: some of the narratives contradict each other, as do aspects of Ines’s narrative when she comes to tell her story. Truth is always relative, but Ines has a disadvantage relative to the other narrators. She is caught on the wrong side of bureaucracy, thus lacks power and, given that Ines is not her real name, her identity is also blurred.
And the ending? It’s inconclusive, which leaves satisfaction dependent upon how each reader interprets it. It’s a compelling and fascinating story and left me wondering about Ines, her journey and her fate long after I’d finished reading.
‘Everyone has a home. They might hate it but it is still home.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is the story of a woman we know as Ines: an African woman who travels illegally to Europe to try to find her son. Ines’s story is told through the narratives of various people she comes into contact with during her journey as they each hand her from one to the other, and then from her own perspective. This method of narration allows us to see how different people perceive and treat Ines (and each other) and how each person’s view of the world is shaped by their own perceptions and preoccupations.
‘Timing is everything in this world.’
As the novel opens, Ines is working as a maid in a Tunisian resort. She is seduced by a German guest and, after she gives birth to their son, is tricked into signing adoption papers for her lover and his wife. Ines does not accept the loss of her son in this way, and begins her journey to Germany. First, Ines places herself in the hands of people smugglers who leave her drifting in the sea of the coast of Sicily.
‘At night geography is the first thing to disappear.’
We learn of this first stage of Ines’s journey from a hotel supervisor and a police inspector who are the first two narrators. The other narrators and witnesses to Ines’s ordeal are an unsavoury Italian truck driver, a group of alpine hunters who prove adept at smuggling Ines over the high border into Austria, even though one of them disagrees, a British film researcher, a snail collector, and a blind German man. Each of these people plays some role in Ines’s search for her lost son.
Not every version of events is reliable: some of the narratives contradict each other, as do aspects of Ines’s narrative when she comes to tell her story. Truth is always relative, but Ines has a disadvantage relative to the other narrators. She is caught on the wrong side of bureaucracy, thus lacks power and, given that Ines is not her real name, her identity is also blurred.
And the ending? It’s inconclusive, which leaves satisfaction dependent upon how each reader interprets it. It’s a compelling and fascinating story and left me wondering about Ines, her journey and her fate long after I’d finished reading.
‘Everyone has a home. They might hate it but it is still home.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 24, 2011
"I used to find myself saying, I can't imagine. But, I've since found out, you can-it's just a case of wanting to."
This discovery has been made by Abebi, the adoptive mother of the child that was stolen from Ines, the child she crosses from Tunisia to Germany to find. How has this revelation come to Abebi? She has read the testimonials of all those people whose lives were touched by Ines as she was passing through, which, in fact, make up the book that we have just read. And like Abebi, like the inspector who helps Ines, the reader learns first at second hand, then directly from Ines herself, the moving story of her journey. The telling of the tale, the reading of the tale, that is what produces human empathy, a true sentimental education.
So the power of story to create sympathy and human feeling is one strand that runs through this book; another is the relationship between Europe and Africa. Ines' child, and therefore her future, has been taken from her. All she wants is to be there, to connect with how that child grows up.
A further strand in this deceptively simple narrative is our willingness to deceive ourselves, to create images and stories shore up our vision of reality. We are all blind, and need someone else's eyes to help us to see.
This discovery has been made by Abebi, the adoptive mother of the child that was stolen from Ines, the child she crosses from Tunisia to Germany to find. How has this revelation come to Abebi? She has read the testimonials of all those people whose lives were touched by Ines as she was passing through, which, in fact, make up the book that we have just read. And like Abebi, like the inspector who helps Ines, the reader learns first at second hand, then directly from Ines herself, the moving story of her journey. The telling of the tale, the reading of the tale, that is what produces human empathy, a true sentimental education.
So the power of story to create sympathy and human feeling is one strand that runs through this book; another is the relationship between Europe and Africa. Ines' child, and therefore her future, has been taken from her. All she wants is to be there, to connect with how that child grows up.
A further strand in this deceptively simple narrative is our willingness to deceive ourselves, to create images and stories shore up our vision of reality. We are all blind, and need someone else's eyes to help us to see.
March 10, 2011
This latest novel from Lloyd Jones is the compelling and intriguing story of "Ines", an African hotel worker who travels illegally to Europe to find her son. This story is told through the narratives of the various characters she comes into contact with on her journey (as they hand her down from one to the other, the idea which provided the title), and then from her own perspective. In this manner the novel focusses on how people treat each other, and also on how they shape their world according to their own preoccupations.
This novel tells its story in a hyper-realistic manner, never resorting to sensationalism, and avoiding an over-the-top climax. The depiction of maternal love in the novel manages to be moving, yet restrained; Jones conveys the desperation of Ines's search, and her yearning for her child, yet does so without resorting to sentimentality or unrealistic emotional displays. Similarly, Ines is an illegal immigrant in Europe, yet is never patronised or demonized.
The movement of the story through Europe is similarly well illustrated: Jones allows the characters to vividly describe the scenes of their own Italy, Austria, and Germany. An example is the alpine hunter and guide, who subtly portrays their surroundings through discussing its suitability to partridge hunting.
The most fascinating aspect of Jones's novel is the narration. Using the first-person narration of the different people that Ines comes into contact with on her way to Berlin (ostensibly the testimonies that they give to the inspector who has been following her journey), proves an arresting manner in which to tell her story.
The difference in the voices and styles of narration showcase Jones`s talents, as each of these sections are interspersed with each of the character`s own preoccupations and concerns. From the African co-worker who tells of her time working with Ines in simple English, to the defensive and self-serving truck driver who makes excuses and reasons away his every action, to the blind Ralf, who describes his world in how it sounds and feels. Each of the accounts also provide a different perspective on Ines's own character, as each narration seems to see her in a slightly different light. There is a snail collector who pities her and aids her in a manner close to how she would a frightened animal, the American food critic who is reluctant to help her because she is an illegal "alien", and there is Hannah, who only refers to Ines as "the black woman".
It becomes apparent as you move through this novel that each version of events is not necessarily reliable (in a post-modernist fashion), and that each character is seeking to present themselves in the best possible light. Some of the narratives contradict each other, and when Ines comes to tell her own version of events it contradicts many of things we have read previously. This of course also reminds us that we can't take her version of events for granted either, adding another fascinating layer to this novel's depth, and ensuring that you will want to start again from the beginning almost immediately.
This narrative approach manages to convey both the isolated nature of existence, through each character`s subjectivity and illustrating how we can never really know them, and humanity's attempts to bridge this isolation, through the depicted relationships and rare instances of actual connection. The ending is also inconclusive, allowing the reader to decide with which version of existence the tale has resolved itself.
Ultimately, this is a compelling story, told in a fascinating manner, and will leave you thinking for long after it's finished.
This novel tells its story in a hyper-realistic manner, never resorting to sensationalism, and avoiding an over-the-top climax. The depiction of maternal love in the novel manages to be moving, yet restrained; Jones conveys the desperation of Ines's search, and her yearning for her child, yet does so without resorting to sentimentality or unrealistic emotional displays. Similarly, Ines is an illegal immigrant in Europe, yet is never patronised or demonized.
The movement of the story through Europe is similarly well illustrated: Jones allows the characters to vividly describe the scenes of their own Italy, Austria, and Germany. An example is the alpine hunter and guide, who subtly portrays their surroundings through discussing its suitability to partridge hunting.
The most fascinating aspect of Jones's novel is the narration. Using the first-person narration of the different people that Ines comes into contact with on her way to Berlin (ostensibly the testimonies that they give to the inspector who has been following her journey), proves an arresting manner in which to tell her story.
The difference in the voices and styles of narration showcase Jones`s talents, as each of these sections are interspersed with each of the character`s own preoccupations and concerns. From the African co-worker who tells of her time working with Ines in simple English, to the defensive and self-serving truck driver who makes excuses and reasons away his every action, to the blind Ralf, who describes his world in how it sounds and feels. Each of the accounts also provide a different perspective on Ines's own character, as each narration seems to see her in a slightly different light. There is a snail collector who pities her and aids her in a manner close to how she would a frightened animal, the American food critic who is reluctant to help her because she is an illegal "alien", and there is Hannah, who only refers to Ines as "the black woman".
It becomes apparent as you move through this novel that each version of events is not necessarily reliable (in a post-modernist fashion), and that each character is seeking to present themselves in the best possible light. Some of the narratives contradict each other, and when Ines comes to tell her own version of events it contradicts many of things we have read previously. This of course also reminds us that we can't take her version of events for granted either, adding another fascinating layer to this novel's depth, and ensuring that you will want to start again from the beginning almost immediately.
This narrative approach manages to convey both the isolated nature of existence, through each character`s subjectivity and illustrating how we can never really know them, and humanity's attempts to bridge this isolation, through the depicted relationships and rare instances of actual connection. The ending is also inconclusive, allowing the reader to decide with which version of existence the tale has resolved itself.
Ultimately, this is a compelling story, told in a fascinating manner, and will leave you thinking for long after it's finished.
October 26, 2010
This is the story of a women know to the reader as Ines. Ines makes a long, hard, and often dangerous journey from Africa to Europe in search of a child.
'Hand Me Down World' is actually one story, told twice. The first half of the book is narrated by the people who Ines meets during her journey. From the truck driver who gives her a lift to the blind man who used her as his eyes. Ines is 'handed down' from person to person - slowly making her way to her destination, with the determination that only a mother separated from her child can have. Ines is used by people, but she is also a user, she will stop at nothing to reach her goal.
In the second half of the book, the exact same story is told again, this time narrated by Ines herself. It is clear that there are some unreliable narrators in this book as the stories vary so much. Each narrator portrays themselves as wholesome and good, only interested in Ines' welfare, yet it is clear that Ines sees the events so differently to the earlier narrators - but whose is the true story? Maybe both of them are true? It's about perception - about understanding how badly Ines wants to get to Berlin - understanding why.
I will be honest and admit that during the first couple of chapters of Hand Me Down World I struggled. I struggled with the unusual narration, the fact that at that time the reader did not know who or what Ines really was. It is a unique and intriguing way of telling a story and once I became used to this quirk I became entranced by the story and the writing.
Each narrator has their own style, this in itself shows how talented an Lloyd Jones is. As Ines travels through Europe, each country, each place is described wonderfully.
It's a kind of 'lonely' story. Ines is essentially a lonesome person, despite the fact that she meets many people on her journey, she never opens up to them, or reveals her real self. It is only towards the end of the story that the reader is allowed to enter into her world and some of her emotions and feelings are exposed.
The book blurb says 'this is a novel you cannot stop thinking about', and I would agree. It's the kind of book that takes you way past bed-time, that makes you want to read 'just one more page'. There is a certain air of mystery about it.
Essentially the story of the love of a mother, but also an exploration of different characters and how one story can be re-told in so many ways.
Heart-breaking in parts, often beautiful and quite inspiring.
'Hand Me Down World' is actually one story, told twice. The first half of the book is narrated by the people who Ines meets during her journey. From the truck driver who gives her a lift to the blind man who used her as his eyes. Ines is 'handed down' from person to person - slowly making her way to her destination, with the determination that only a mother separated from her child can have. Ines is used by people, but she is also a user, she will stop at nothing to reach her goal.
In the second half of the book, the exact same story is told again, this time narrated by Ines herself. It is clear that there are some unreliable narrators in this book as the stories vary so much. Each narrator portrays themselves as wholesome and good, only interested in Ines' welfare, yet it is clear that Ines sees the events so differently to the earlier narrators - but whose is the true story? Maybe both of them are true? It's about perception - about understanding how badly Ines wants to get to Berlin - understanding why.
I will be honest and admit that during the first couple of chapters of Hand Me Down World I struggled. I struggled with the unusual narration, the fact that at that time the reader did not know who or what Ines really was. It is a unique and intriguing way of telling a story and once I became used to this quirk I became entranced by the story and the writing.
Each narrator has their own style, this in itself shows how talented an Lloyd Jones is. As Ines travels through Europe, each country, each place is described wonderfully.
It's a kind of 'lonely' story. Ines is essentially a lonesome person, despite the fact that she meets many people on her journey, she never opens up to them, or reveals her real self. It is only towards the end of the story that the reader is allowed to enter into her world and some of her emotions and feelings are exposed.
The book blurb says 'this is a novel you cannot stop thinking about', and I would agree. It's the kind of book that takes you way past bed-time, that makes you want to read 'just one more page'. There is a certain air of mystery about it.
Essentially the story of the love of a mother, but also an exploration of different characters and how one story can be re-told in so many ways.
Heart-breaking in parts, often beautiful and quite inspiring.
November 11, 2013
I always feel bad giving a well written book such a low rating. The author is definitely a good writer. This is quite enjoyable until the last 2/3 or so when the main character begins her account of what happened on her journey to find her kidnapped child. Her version deviated to greater and lesser degrees from the narration of others, but in ways that either didn't matter or had Me wondering what the point was in changing the narrative from what the original teller reported. It didn't add to the story at all.
By the end, it felt as if the author loss focus and started throwing things in in hopes of making the story sound more "gripping", and climactic. It was neither. He even threw in a little "Aspergers" to make it sound more "today".
I forced myself to finish, caring little for the character or what happened to anyone by the end. The "wrapping up" felt rushed... Which, actually, was just what I was doing, rushing to get it over with. Very disappointing.
Too many good books, too little time. Don't waste any on this one.
By the end, it felt as if the author loss focus and started throwing things in in hopes of making the story sound more "gripping", and climactic. It was neither. He even threw in a little "Aspergers" to make it sound more "today".
I forced myself to finish, caring little for the character or what happened to anyone by the end. The "wrapping up" felt rushed... Which, actually, was just what I was doing, rushing to get it over with. Very disappointing.
Too many good books, too little time. Don't waste any on this one.
October 27, 2011
This was kind of a frustrating book for me. Ostensibly the story of a woman searching for her kidnapped son, it's told instead through the points of view of people she meets along her journey. As has been said in other reviews, we don't even get her real name, and most of the time she isn't even given one. We don't get the woman's point of view until about 2/3 through the book, and then it differs from the other accounts. You don't ever feel like you really know her. With the added not knowing who is telling the story accurately factor, it's all very alienating and distanced from the main character. Which I understand is probably the point, but it just felt like I never fully understood her motives and a lot of her actions (yes reuniting with her child was the overriding factor over everything, but some of the things she did still didn't make sense, or I found hard to excuse). However, despite that, the book was well-written and kind pulling me along till the end.
December 1, 2017
I liked those old Italian resistance fighters.
December 15, 2010
The first part of the story is narrated by various people who encountered a woman and helped her in her quest to travel to Berlin to find her young son. I thought this was intriguing and I really liked how they all helped her in different ways, some good, some not so good, from a truck driver, snail shell collector to a chess player and other interesting characters.
As the story goes on we gradually learn a little more about this woman from Africa, until she herself narrates the last part and we see that she sees most of the people and the situations in a different way.
For me, the story started well but slowly I got bored, it just didn't hold my attention enough, I didn't really care too much about Ines, the woman, or the characters she meets about half way through. I did like the easy writing style which contained mainly short sentences and paragraphs.
I read and enjoyed Mister Pip which was Lloyd Jones last book so this was quite a disappointment to me.
As the story goes on we gradually learn a little more about this woman from Africa, until she herself narrates the last part and we see that she sees most of the people and the situations in a different way.
For me, the story started well but slowly I got bored, it just didn't hold my attention enough, I didn't really care too much about Ines, the woman, or the characters she meets about half way through. I did like the easy writing style which contained mainly short sentences and paragraphs.
I read and enjoyed Mister Pip which was Lloyd Jones last book so this was quite a disappointment to me.
December 25, 2011
3 1/2 stars, rounded up. The story of an African woman searching for her baby who was stolen from her by the father and taken back to Germany. The story is being told in fragments by all of the various people who came in contact with her on her perilous journey as an illegal alien crossing Europe.
It would make a good European movie. The story is handed off like a baton from one character to another, completely disparate and unpredictable in their interaction with the protagonist. Great locales for shooting too. Short scenes, action-filled, emotion, sex.
About midway it started to get a bit boggy, her story in danger of being submerged, drowned by the stories of her 'couriers'. But it recovered soon enough and regained its rhythm. I like the contrasting versions of events provided by the different points of view.
As with Mr Pip, Lloyd Jones shows again the easy and casual cruelties humans show one another, and juxtaposes that with unexpected kindnesses.
It would make a good European movie. The story is handed off like a baton from one character to another, completely disparate and unpredictable in their interaction with the protagonist. Great locales for shooting too. Short scenes, action-filled, emotion, sex.
About midway it started to get a bit boggy, her story in danger of being submerged, drowned by the stories of her 'couriers'. But it recovered soon enough and regained its rhythm. I like the contrasting versions of events provided by the different points of view.
As with Mr Pip, Lloyd Jones shows again the easy and casual cruelties humans show one another, and juxtaposes that with unexpected kindnesses.
December 21, 2013
Hand Me Down World is the 12th book by New Zealand author, Lloyd Jones. Ines is a black woman who works as a hotel supervisor in Tunisia until a series of events compels her to make her way to Berlin. Those events and the stages of her harrowing journey, her arrival and stay in Berlin, her arrest and imprisonment, are told by people she encounters along the way, and eventually, by Ines herself. Thus the reader first sees events from the point of view of observers: another hotel worker, a police inspector, a truck driver, a snail collector, a chess player, an alpine guide, a pastor, a film researcher, a poet, a blind man and his ex-wife, and a zoologist. These accounts are often contained in anecdotes about the observer’s own life. Then Ines (an assumed name) relates her own story, and it becomes apparent how much influence a person’s own history, self-interest, pride and honesty affect their version of events. This is a powerful story, beautifully written, with an uplifting ending.
June 21, 2016
The first 120 pages of this novel are very special. They consist of various first-person narratives (told verbally) that follow the progress of a young African woman who travels to Europe as an immigrant without papers. Sometimes she is the center of the narratives, sometimes they only touch on her. The voices work; everything about them works.
But then Jones decided to have much longer narratives and, although they are well written, they fall far short of the first section of the novel. They are pat in that they pull the strings together and follow a Rashomon approach that is far less fresh than the first section’s telling of different pieces of the woman’s life. A good read, but I think it could have been even better.
But then Jones decided to have much longer narratives and, although they are well written, they fall far short of the first section of the novel. They are pat in that they pull the strings together and follow a Rashomon approach that is far less fresh than the first section’s telling of different pieces of the woman’s life. A good read, but I think it could have been even better.
January 19, 2016
Wonderful. This is one of those books you can't bear to finish because you don't want it to end...
To see my review, please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
To see my review, please visit
http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/201...
April 22, 2011
I approached this book with some trepidation, mainly because it had received such favourable reviews that I worried I might be disappointed!
Despite its apparent simplicity, this is a complicated novel. It’s the story of Ines (not her real name) and her journey to find her child. The first section describes how Ines interacts with those she meets in her journey. To me, although this was a fascinating view of the lives of a range of people (the truck driver, the hunters...) it was not very engrossing in terms of discovering anything about Ines herself. I found this section too objective, a narrative. Perhaps this was the author’s intention, in which case he succeeded!
The description of Ralf’s blindness was masterly. Jones’ language was simple but brilliantly apt.
Despite learning more of Ines’ adventures, and the straits to which she had been reduced in her journey, I was still unable to feel close to her. To me, she was not real. Jones has a marvellous grasp of language, but he did not make Ines into a real person for me, and I need a real person if I am to have empathy and understanding of their actions. I felt that I should be more empathetic, because, after all, she’d been treated disgracefully and had a burning need to see her child, but I did not actually feel this way! This is the superficial aspect of this novel.
This novel is challenging in that it makes the reader question her reaction to people, in this case, to Ines. I think Jones was making a very important point – Ines could not explain herself or defend her actions because she could not make herself understood. She was a refugee, out of her environment, without language, without ready access to people and services. I am ashamed to admit that I fell into the trap of judging her, and I thought I was a very non-judgemental person and have been known to rail at people for judging refugees! Jones has shown that it is so easy to see people out of context when we they are unable to communicate, for whatever reason.
Although at the time I found this novel less than engrossing, I’m glad I read it for the lessons I learnt about myself. As I said, it’s a deceptively simple novel with hidden depths, if the reader is willing to meet the challenges.
Despite its apparent simplicity, this is a complicated novel. It’s the story of Ines (not her real name) and her journey to find her child. The first section describes how Ines interacts with those she meets in her journey. To me, although this was a fascinating view of the lives of a range of people (the truck driver, the hunters...) it was not very engrossing in terms of discovering anything about Ines herself. I found this section too objective, a narrative. Perhaps this was the author’s intention, in which case he succeeded!
The description of Ralf’s blindness was masterly. Jones’ language was simple but brilliantly apt.
Despite learning more of Ines’ adventures, and the straits to which she had been reduced in her journey, I was still unable to feel close to her. To me, she was not real. Jones has a marvellous grasp of language, but he did not make Ines into a real person for me, and I need a real person if I am to have empathy and understanding of their actions. I felt that I should be more empathetic, because, after all, she’d been treated disgracefully and had a burning need to see her child, but I did not actually feel this way! This is the superficial aspect of this novel.
This novel is challenging in that it makes the reader question her reaction to people, in this case, to Ines. I think Jones was making a very important point – Ines could not explain herself or defend her actions because she could not make herself understood. She was a refugee, out of her environment, without language, without ready access to people and services. I am ashamed to admit that I fell into the trap of judging her, and I thought I was a very non-judgemental person and have been known to rail at people for judging refugees! Jones has shown that it is so easy to see people out of context when we they are unable to communicate, for whatever reason.
Although at the time I found this novel less than engrossing, I’m glad I read it for the lessons I learnt about myself. As I said, it’s a deceptively simple novel with hidden depths, if the reader is willing to meet the challenges.
October 4, 2011
If you have ever wanted to read a story about true courage, resilience and strength, than this would be the only one you'd ever need to read.
This novel follows the story of an African woman (who's name you're not even sure of throughout the entire novel) working as a maid in a tourist resort. It's there that she falls for a tourist who gets her pregnant, but tricks her and leaves her - taking their baby with him to Berlin. You are heartbroken for this woman before her story has even began. The story then follows...we'll call her Ines for now...as she travels from Africa to Berlin in search of her child.
What will strike you right from the start is that the first two-thirds of the novel is told entirely from other peoples' points of view: The maid Ines worked with, the trucker who gave her a ride through Europe, even the person who hired her for over 2 years. It actually got to a point where I was beginning to wonder whether we'd even hear from Ines herself. Everyone else just had opinions of her and everything she was going through. She was a great character of mystery, and it was clear from everyone else's stories about her, that she was a mystery to all of them as well.
But then...the last one-third of the novel was all Ines, and as she re-told her entire story from the beginning, this novel just explodes - in a good way! Ines' story is quite different than those told by the other people, and you start to remember that everything you've been told was just heresay. What can you actually believe? And as you read through Ines' words, you see just how strong she really is. What she's been through and how much more she'll go through just to be with her child. Her courage is inspiring and I found myself not wanting to close this book. I just wanted to know about more Ines and I wanted to know how the rest of her life would unfold.
Maria @ GoodChoiceReading.com
This novel follows the story of an African woman (who's name you're not even sure of throughout the entire novel) working as a maid in a tourist resort. It's there that she falls for a tourist who gets her pregnant, but tricks her and leaves her - taking their baby with him to Berlin. You are heartbroken for this woman before her story has even began. The story then follows...we'll call her Ines for now...as she travels from Africa to Berlin in search of her child.
What will strike you right from the start is that the first two-thirds of the novel is told entirely from other peoples' points of view: The maid Ines worked with, the trucker who gave her a ride through Europe, even the person who hired her for over 2 years. It actually got to a point where I was beginning to wonder whether we'd even hear from Ines herself. Everyone else just had opinions of her and everything she was going through. She was a great character of mystery, and it was clear from everyone else's stories about her, that she was a mystery to all of them as well.
But then...the last one-third of the novel was all Ines, and as she re-told her entire story from the beginning, this novel just explodes - in a good way! Ines' story is quite different than those told by the other people, and you start to remember that everything you've been told was just heresay. What can you actually believe? And as you read through Ines' words, you see just how strong she really is. What she's been through and how much more she'll go through just to be with her child. Her courage is inspiring and I found myself not wanting to close this book. I just wanted to know about more Ines and I wanted to know how the rest of her life would unfold.
Maria @ GoodChoiceReading.com
February 28, 2012
People lie. Not just to the world, but to themselves. This is the barb of truth at the end of "Hand Me Down World", which, difficult though it may be to accept, is impossible to deny. Jones presents several witnesses on his quest to tell the story of the protagonist, whose fate seems doomed from the very first page. We hear accounts from those who apparently know this woman, or have known her intimately in the past, as well as installments from people whose paths crossed with her only briefly. We don't hear the perspective of the woman herself until the very end, by which time we have had to reconsider everything we had previously assumed about her. We had begun by believing her to be the victim, for example, which while still the case, does not quite explain everything. And as the end draws near we begin to wonder if in fact "Ines", which may or may not be her real name, is merely an actor on a stage. If that contention sits uncomfortably with you (she's a woman who had her newborn baby stolen, afterall), the only alternative is to go right back to the beginning and reevaluate everything we have been told about her case from the outset. In doing so we soon realise that something is amiss - someone isn't telling the truth. Unless there can be several truths?
Wherein lies the barb. Casting aspersions over the testimonies of those whose narratives came first makes you realise that everyone is but an actor, playing out roles in scenes of their own determination. Do we believe everything we're told? Accept performances at face value?
This is such a clever book - once through will not be enough.
Wherein lies the barb. Casting aspersions over the testimonies of those whose narratives came first makes you realise that everyone is but an actor, playing out roles in scenes of their own determination. Do we believe everything we're told? Accept performances at face value?
This is such a clever book - once through will not be enough.
August 11, 2013
3.5 I read his novel, Mr. Pip and loved it though there were many dark and brutal parts. This novel I liked but not quite as much. This is a story that starts in Africa, where a woman has a baby and then her baby it taken away by its father without her permission. She than goes on to try to get her baby back, a journey that takes her to Berlin.
This is a very sparsely written and very unusual detective novel. What happens to Ines and whom is responsible? We hear from many different people she met on her journey, their part in her tale told by others. But, are they telling the truth? We do not hear four Ines herself until almost three quarters of the way though the novel and she herself is a unreliable narrator. After this book one can certainly see why eyewitness testimony is not to be absolutely trusted. Everyone has a reason for telling their story the way they tell it. The one thing many of them had in common is they remembered her well constructed bright blue coat and because of this coat, she was not taken for a regular street person but more as a person in distress who needed help.
The novel has a slow pace, one must just enjoy the stories and the journey it takes to finally get the truth. Different but interesting.
This is a very sparsely written and very unusual detective novel. What happens to Ines and whom is responsible? We hear from many different people she met on her journey, their part in her tale told by others. But, are they telling the truth? We do not hear four Ines herself until almost three quarters of the way though the novel and she herself is a unreliable narrator. After this book one can certainly see why eyewitness testimony is not to be absolutely trusted. Everyone has a reason for telling their story the way they tell it. The one thing many of them had in common is they remembered her well constructed bright blue coat and because of this coat, she was not taken for a regular street person but more as a person in distress who needed help.
The novel has a slow pace, one must just enjoy the stories and the journey it takes to finally get the truth. Different but interesting.
September 17, 2012
emergency read while I wait for the library to re-open (damaged roof) and I can pick up all the lovely reservations waiting for me. This book is my wife's, but I have always meant to read it as I liked 'Mr Pip'.
this book suffered because for some reason - well, work, family etc, the usual reasons - I couldn't get a good long run at it. I think it was a fine novel. It was a fine novel, a moving account of an African woman trying to trace her abducted new born son. The son is taken by its father to Berlin, and the woman follows, an amazing description of her hanging on to a bouy in the middle of the Mediterranean and swimming to shore on Sicily, then getting lifts with demanding lorry drivers and others, arriving in Berlin and living on the subway trains, settling with homeless people, and finally coming to an arrangement with a blind man as a kind of carer. It was told partly through the testimony of people who'd met her and sheltered her/abused her on her journey and so was bitty and disjointed (like her life). I can see why the writer did it this way. I'll give it another go I think and see if I up the star rating...
this book suffered because for some reason - well, work, family etc, the usual reasons - I couldn't get a good long run at it. I think it was a fine novel. It was a fine novel, a moving account of an African woman trying to trace her abducted new born son. The son is taken by its father to Berlin, and the woman follows, an amazing description of her hanging on to a bouy in the middle of the Mediterranean and swimming to shore on Sicily, then getting lifts with demanding lorry drivers and others, arriving in Berlin and living on the subway trains, settling with homeless people, and finally coming to an arrangement with a blind man as a kind of carer. It was told partly through the testimony of people who'd met her and sheltered her/abused her on her journey and so was bitty and disjointed (like her life). I can see why the writer did it this way. I'll give it another go I think and see if I up the star rating...
September 13, 2013
This was such an unusual and interesting book. It is the story of a courageous mother fiercely determined to find the son who has been taken from her, in a journey which takes her across continents. In the first half of the book, we hear of bits and pieces of her journey from those whom she has encountered along the way. In the second half of the book, she tells her own story, fleshing out events, filling in missing details and correcting lies and omissions by the previous narrators. Thus her story unfolds little by little, like a jigsaw puzzle whose image becomes clearer and clearer the more pieces are fit into place. Although some of the choices she makes are questionable, I was able to sympathize with her desperation and to admire her fortitude. I enjoyed this author's style of writing and look forward to reading more of his works.
May 2, 2011
While I really enjoyed this Kiwi author's earlier hit novel Mr Pip, Hand me Down World is frankly under-welming. I couldn't wait to finish it for all the wrong reasons. Not many books don't hold my attention once I have chosen to read one, so this was a disappointment.
September 24, 2014
Started off with a real hiss and a roar, but this quality is not sustained. Some excellent passages. Very heart rending in parts. He is our leading living writer, in my opinion.
March 21, 2021
The writing is very strong, but the story was not too my taste at this point.
The blurb gives you an enticing description that I won't rehash per se. Suffice it to say a beautiful African woman who works in a hotel (you find this out almost right away, so this is no spoiler even though the blurb doesn't tell you this) is seduced by a guest, gets pregnant, and he takes her baby (steals it, but makes sure the stealing is legal since she doesn't know his first language). This is the story of her trying to see her child, and is primarily told by others, although the blurb is deceptive, since not every single person telling the story was a strangers. However, the idea of how reliable each narrator is is an integral part of this tale, and it's great to bear this in mind while reading it.
It was Jones' stellar writing that kept me reading this even though I can't say that I loved the story itself.
The blurb gives you an enticing description that I won't rehash per se. Suffice it to say a beautiful African woman who works in a hotel (you find this out almost right away, so this is no spoiler even though the blurb doesn't tell you this) is seduced by a guest, gets pregnant, and he takes her baby (steals it, but makes sure the stealing is legal since she doesn't know his first language). This is the story of her trying to see her child, and is primarily told by others, although the blurb is deceptive, since not every single person telling the story was a strangers. However, the idea of how reliable each narrator is is an integral part of this tale, and it's great to bear this in mind while reading it.
It was Jones' stellar writing that kept me reading this even though I can't say that I loved the story itself.
January 12, 2024
While this is a story of the extraordinary lengths a mother will go through for her child it’s also about the stories we tell ourselves. A unique way of writing segments of someone’s story from everyone else perspective but the protagonist’s. Until we finally hear her story.
It highlights how people can tell themselves how an event happened and frame themselves in many different lights. People leave out important or trivial aspects in order for self preservation or to change other’s perceptions.
Also, that while someone people may not commit evil on a larger scale there are certainly some evil people who commit horrible acts against other without repercussions, while others commit acts of kindness without others even knowing.
It highlights how people can tell themselves how an event happened and frame themselves in many different lights. People leave out important or trivial aspects in order for self preservation or to change other’s perceptions.
Also, that while someone people may not commit evil on a larger scale there are certainly some evil people who commit horrible acts against other without repercussions, while others commit acts of kindness without others even knowing.
August 26, 2015
SPOILERS
I have never read any Lloyd Jones before so had no expectations - and as it was lent to me I didn't even really register till I'd finished it that that it was a male author writing about a woman and, at least in part, in a woman's voice . I'm usually a bit wary of that, though Arthur Golden's 'Memoirs of a Geisha' went a long way to reconciling me.
I'm not sure if it has any relevance here, except that somehow , desperate and female though the plight of Jones "Ines" is, I just could not believe in her . Basically the synopsis of the story is that of an African hotel worker , made pregnant by a guest who steals the resulting baby and disappears back to Germany with it, having fooled his wife into thinking the baby was born by surrogate, using his and his wife's egg and sperm and willingly relinquished by the surrogate mother. The story then is basically "Ines" journey to Berlin to find the child, and what happens when she does.
The journey is, naturally, fraught with danger of all sorts, she is of course an illegal immigrant and without money or papers. She is exploited and threatened - but not as much as many reviewers say, or not to my mind at least . Mostly she is helped and assisted in the most extraordinary ways and all of it she takes completely for granted , barely noticing the efforts of others and never acknowledging or thanking them apart from sleeping with one of them when she cares to. She steals from them all, all the time.
Now I know we are meant to think that because she must pursue the most precious thing of all, her stolen child, she thus has no time for compassion or gratitude .... but ...I get the feeling that she would have been as ruthless in pursuit of anything she held dear, a photograph album, her dead mother's locket , that sort of thing.
Lloyd, to me , does not make real the woman "Ines" ( she has stolen the name and partial identity of another woman on the way , and ruthlessly discarded her with a barest semblance of guilt at her death. It was not clear to me a whether she accidentally killed the real Ines or not)
All this is clever I guess, making her a cold go-getter when she it would have been easy/easier to portray as a grieving Niobe. But I don't believe in it - just as I don't believe that Jermayne, the father who stole the child, would not have simply denounced to her the authorities (or pretended to) He has adoption papers including one he says is a relinquishing form signed by "Ines". Instead he plays a stupid and dangerous game , making her pay to see the child by the hour in public places. No child of three could keep such a thing secret, especially from his mother at home.
Nor do I think the ending likely , though perhaps if Jermayne's wife really believed his story that she didn't need to be involved in any way with the paperwork and admin regarding the 'surrogacy' and didn't want to see or know anything about the supposed surrogate mother in the first place, then perhaps she really, at some level, knew it to be suspect.
The tale itself is told from several point of view and different time frames, all very well handled . Some reviewers said they found the different POV's completely different from "Ines" tale. I didn't actually find then that different , merely that "Ines" version was more utterly driven and self absorbed.
I dunno, well written, very interesting ideas, different characters than you'd expect, just somehow, for me, unlikely and I can't help thinking a female author might have handled it better .
July 22, 2011
Who is Ines, an illegal African migrant who embarks on a hazardous sea crossing to Italy and Germany in search of her stolen son? That answer is revealed slowly and painstakingly in this haunting new book by Lloyd Jones, author of the acclaimed Mister Pip.
When we first meet her, Ines is working as a maid in a tony Tunisian resort, where women routinely supplement their wages with “hotel sex.” In the first few pages, we learn that she is seduced and impregnated by a callous black German guest, Jermayne, who tricks her into signing adoption papers for him and his wife. What Jermayne does not expect is that Ines will put herself in the hands of people-traffickers who launch her on a journey to the Sicilian coast, where she is arrives “bitten as a sodden sea cucumber. From there, she makes her way to Berlin.
This story is revealed in bits and dabs, through successive narrations of an unscrupulous truck driver, a group of mostly benevolent alpine hunters, a British film researcher, a selfless French poet, and finally, a blind German man whose father may have been complicit in the war horrors. It is only after the first 120 pages that we meet the three key narrators: Ralf (the blind man), Defoe (his other lodger) and finally, Ines herself.
It’s an intriguing way to reveal Ines, a woman who is driven by motherly love and who will do anything and everything to spend time with her stolen son, Daniel, including betraying the trust of those who give her shelter and devotion. Like an old-fashioned detective story – in modern and sparse prose – we discover the contradictions between the narratives, what is real and what isn’t, and who Ines really is, deep down inside.
There is a beautiful symmetry about this book. In the first few pages, Lloyd Jones reveals the stuff that Ines is made of. She buys a parrot, that she quickly tires of, and tries to sell it. When that proves impossible she places the parrot on a skiff as it “rolled its eye up to her, to look as though it possibly understood her decision and had decided it would choose dignity over fear.” Much later on, Ines’s constant harping to see her son is described as parrot-like; she, too, chooses dignity as the best way to go.
The sparseness of the prose – the distance from Ines – places the reader at a bit of a distance. At times the narrative sags under the weight with a sense of inertia. Yet every time it slows down to a snail’s pace, something – some action, some decision, some revelation – creates more forward momentum. As a reader, I felt as if I were on a slow-moving train that suddenly picked up speed and oh, look at the view!
Lloyd Jones reveals a sense of daring and experimentation that shows he has come quite a way since Mister Pip – a book I admired greatly. This subtle book is, in turn, riveting, disquieting, haunting, and at some points, boring, as we follow Ines’s odyssey to pursue her son. It reminded me a little bit of Chris Cleave’s Little Bee in its tautness and ability to summon up emotion. Lloyd Jones is definitely a writer to watch!
When we first meet her, Ines is working as a maid in a tony Tunisian resort, where women routinely supplement their wages with “hotel sex.” In the first few pages, we learn that she is seduced and impregnated by a callous black German guest, Jermayne, who tricks her into signing adoption papers for him and his wife. What Jermayne does not expect is that Ines will put herself in the hands of people-traffickers who launch her on a journey to the Sicilian coast, where she is arrives “bitten as a sodden sea cucumber. From there, she makes her way to Berlin.
This story is revealed in bits and dabs, through successive narrations of an unscrupulous truck driver, a group of mostly benevolent alpine hunters, a British film researcher, a selfless French poet, and finally, a blind German man whose father may have been complicit in the war horrors. It is only after the first 120 pages that we meet the three key narrators: Ralf (the blind man), Defoe (his other lodger) and finally, Ines herself.
It’s an intriguing way to reveal Ines, a woman who is driven by motherly love and who will do anything and everything to spend time with her stolen son, Daniel, including betraying the trust of those who give her shelter and devotion. Like an old-fashioned detective story – in modern and sparse prose – we discover the contradictions between the narratives, what is real and what isn’t, and who Ines really is, deep down inside.
There is a beautiful symmetry about this book. In the first few pages, Lloyd Jones reveals the stuff that Ines is made of. She buys a parrot, that she quickly tires of, and tries to sell it. When that proves impossible she places the parrot on a skiff as it “rolled its eye up to her, to look as though it possibly understood her decision and had decided it would choose dignity over fear.” Much later on, Ines’s constant harping to see her son is described as parrot-like; she, too, chooses dignity as the best way to go.
The sparseness of the prose – the distance from Ines – places the reader at a bit of a distance. At times the narrative sags under the weight with a sense of inertia. Yet every time it slows down to a snail’s pace, something – some action, some decision, some revelation – creates more forward momentum. As a reader, I felt as if I were on a slow-moving train that suddenly picked up speed and oh, look at the view!
Lloyd Jones reveals a sense of daring and experimentation that shows he has come quite a way since Mister Pip – a book I admired greatly. This subtle book is, in turn, riveting, disquieting, haunting, and at some points, boring, as we follow Ines’s odyssey to pursue her son. It reminded me a little bit of Chris Cleave’s Little Bee in its tautness and ability to summon up emotion. Lloyd Jones is definitely a writer to watch!
October 30, 2010
This is a book about one woman’s journey, physical and emotional, from Africa to Europe in search of a child, but it’s just as much about the individual journeys of all the people she meets, who help or hinder her along the way. It’s a book about home, and what the concept means.
She calls herself Ines, and she’s not the kind of person any of us has met in real life or on the pages of fiction before now. She’s someone who wouldn’t draw any attention, who you might look right through. Sometimes you want to help her, other times you want her to take a different path to the one she’s decided on, but as you find out more about her, you realise you know less than when you started. Her world is so different from ours that you could say that she’s almost from a different planet.
The novel is very realistic in its portrayal of Ines and all the people around her - in life we don’t instantly find out everything on meeting a new person and we don’t here. We see each of them briefly as Ines encounters them and have to make up our minds about them using the little information we have to go on. Should we (and Ines) trust them or not?
The book has several narrators, each with their own idiosyncrasies, and though Ines is one of them we hear about her long before we hear from her, so we see her through other eyes first. Perhaps we’d think the same some of the narrators if we were to meet her.
Lloyd Jones draws you in right from the start, and it’s a hard book to put down - I found myself reading long into the night, trying to find out more about Ines and what led her to Europe. I tried to read the last few pages slowly, to make the pleasure last, but at the same time desperate to get to the end to get some closure to the story. I felt bereft when I finished, like the feeling you get when a much-loved visitor has gone home.
The style is accessible and some of the descriptive passages are quirky and beautiful. The characters are real, with real human positives and failings, so that you feel you know people like them.
I haven’t read any of Lloyd Jones’s other books, but I look forward to reading more of his work. If it’s even nearly as good as “Hand Me Down World” then I’m in for a treat.
She calls herself Ines, and she’s not the kind of person any of us has met in real life or on the pages of fiction before now. She’s someone who wouldn’t draw any attention, who you might look right through. Sometimes you want to help her, other times you want her to take a different path to the one she’s decided on, but as you find out more about her, you realise you know less than when you started. Her world is so different from ours that you could say that she’s almost from a different planet.
The novel is very realistic in its portrayal of Ines and all the people around her - in life we don’t instantly find out everything on meeting a new person and we don’t here. We see each of them briefly as Ines encounters them and have to make up our minds about them using the little information we have to go on. Should we (and Ines) trust them or not?
The book has several narrators, each with their own idiosyncrasies, and though Ines is one of them we hear about her long before we hear from her, so we see her through other eyes first. Perhaps we’d think the same some of the narrators if we were to meet her.
Lloyd Jones draws you in right from the start, and it’s a hard book to put down - I found myself reading long into the night, trying to find out more about Ines and what led her to Europe. I tried to read the last few pages slowly, to make the pleasure last, but at the same time desperate to get to the end to get some closure to the story. I felt bereft when I finished, like the feeling you get when a much-loved visitor has gone home.
The style is accessible and some of the descriptive passages are quirky and beautiful. The characters are real, with real human positives and failings, so that you feel you know people like them.
I haven’t read any of Lloyd Jones’s other books, but I look forward to reading more of his work. If it’s even nearly as good as “Hand Me Down World” then I’m in for a treat.
January 1, 2011
I love books for Christmas! Lloyd Jones last year almost won the Booker prize for Mr Pip. This year through modern Berlin he writes of a journey, from a woman who lets very little of herself escape to the outsider, in her journey to see her child stolen by trickery. There are some pretty nasty characters, but none are free from using others for their own needs, whether sexual or for other purposes. The story unfolds from North Africa, through Europe to Berlin and back to Italy. The woman, whose name is not what it seems, uses others to gain what she wants, but in the end it is futile, not because of amorality but because of the failure of the people as individuals. Is this a morality story-you decide.
March 24, 2016
Another blinder from Lloyd Jones.
A hotel worker, whose real name is never told but adopts the name Ines, in Tunisia supplements her wages by having “hotel sex” with guests. She gets pregnant and is tricked into signing adoption papers where the father takes their son home to his wife.
She goes to Italy on a boat with other refugees and journeys to Berlin to find her son. The story is told through the people she meets on her journey then retold from the eyes of Ines and other key characters.
Jones shows us how chance and circumstance form the basis of people’s lives and for most people survival and love are unobtainable goals.
A hotel worker, whose real name is never told but adopts the name Ines, in Tunisia supplements her wages by having “hotel sex” with guests. She gets pregnant and is tricked into signing adoption papers where the father takes their son home to his wife.
She goes to Italy on a boat with other refugees and journeys to Berlin to find her son. The story is told through the people she meets on her journey then retold from the eyes of Ines and other key characters.
Jones shows us how chance and circumstance form the basis of people’s lives and for most people survival and love are unobtainable goals.
March 17, 2011
Amazingly I give this book three stars. I didn't enjoy the style of writing - I thought the narratives blended into one persons voice - but was that the intention of the author? I actually didn't really enjoy reading it until the last third and more so when I actually finished it. What I enjoyed most is the questions it posed as I thought about the book in days afterwards. The book certainly made for good discussions at our book club. I
November 29, 2012
A touching tale of a woman trying to make her way through the world. Washed ashore and then left to fend for herself, Lloyd Jones gives her life many different perspectives and allows readers to judge her for themselves. It reads like short stories and shows us the undeniable talent of the author when it comes to sketching out brilliant characters for his readers. Mr. Pip is still my favorite book by this author though.
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