Praise for Shell: "A luminous look at a city at a time of change, a time when the building of the Sydney Opera House was a reach for greatness."-- "New York Times"
Praise for The China Garden: "Olsson is a gifted writer with considerable verbal flair." -- "The Age"
"Shell is
a masterful novel. Olsson
brings to vivid life a country at the precipice of self-awareness, at a moment of intellectual and ethical schism that will define its place in the wider world, and she does this brilliantly through
intensely moving and personal stories of love and loss, of morality and betrayal. As
ethereal, shimmering, and magical as the book's beating heart, the Sydney Opera House, it is fair to say that
Shell shares the architectural masterpiece's majesty."
--Matthew Condon, award-winning author of The Trout Opera and Three Crooked Kings
"
A contemplative story of personal guilt and political upheaval."-- "Publishers Weekly"
"
An ambitious canvas, a complex and provocative novel of ideas."-- "Sydney Morning Herald"
"
Evocative, learned, and moving."-- "The Sunday Times"
"
The China Garden will suit literature lovers who enjoy slow, steady reads with intriguing characters." -- "The Australian Bookshelf"
"A
beguiling, original, and beautifully written imagining of Sydney of the sixties. "--Gail Jones, award-winning author
"A
beautifully crafted novel about a fascinating time in our history. There is
a luminous precision in every sentence." --Heather Rose, award-winning author of The Museum of Modern Love
"Kristina Olsson is such
a graceful, wise and perceptive writer. The woman's massive heart is one big literary taproot feeding all of us answers about the Australian condition."--Trent Dalton, bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe
"Like a melody that resonates long after the song ends,
Shell is
one of those rare books that lingers in the reader's mind weeks after finishing the final page."-- "The Sunday Telegraph"
"Olsson masterfully captures the different cultures [the protagonists] come from...
Olsson's writing is beautiful, captivating, and is enough in itself to recommend this book."-- "New York Journal of Books"
"Olsson's
subtle and nuanced tale displays how deeply the past--or at least one's perception of it--informs life in the present."-- "Kirkus Reviews"
"Olsson's American debut features
lyrical writing that brings the cultural upheaval of 1960s Australia vividly to life, and readers who appreciate leisurely paced, thoughtful literary fiction will
savor each word of this emotional story of two people--and a country--reckoning with their past and future."-- "Booklist"
"Olsson's
transformational novel is as
inspiring, as
moving, as
elevating as Utzon's transformational edifice. In its honoring and celebration of people, place, and principle,
Shell sanctifies the greatest of our ideas and being, from love, courage and betrayal to creation and dissent. This book carried me along through stunning sentences to a space beyond of beauty and sadness, the potential of art, and the most moving of human intentions. It's the kind of book that opens out its readers, making them think and feel.
It's the kind of book I'll carry with me for all time."--Ashley Hay, author of A Hundred Small Lessons
"The prose of
Shell has
a sensory aesthetic and a gentle fluidity, even when skewering Australia's old guard."-- "The Guardian"
"The story of the construction of the Sydney Opera House, undeniably one of the 20th century's great buildings, is one fraught with paradoxes and rich with wider context...this is
a novel with a sharp eye, a warm heart and sprawling ambitions, painted on the most splendid canvas of all."-- "The Australian"
"This narrative of war and hope, architecture and yearning, and old and new world, makes
Shell a novel of energy and enlightenment, and, to boot,
a source of delightful reading."--Thomas Keneally "author of Schindler's List and In the Name of the Father"
"War, architecture, guilt, salvation, politics -
this book has a little bit of it all...A fascinating look at Australia during the Vietnam War, the creation of the Sydney Opera House, and the ever-present battle between the violence of war and the beauty of art.
Recommended."-- "Historical Novel Society"
