 | Reviews of Addition Toni Jordan Text Publishing 2008 |
[This novel was shortlisted for the 2009 Barbara Jefferis Award, and longlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin award.]
From the publisher's page:
Grace Lisa Vandenburg counts. The letters in her name (19). The steps she takes every morning to the local café (920); the number of poppy seeds on her slice of orange cake, which dictates the number of bites she'll take to finish it. Grace counts everything, because numbers hold the world together. And she needs to keep an eye on how they're doing. Seamus Joseph O'Reilly (also a 19, with the sexiest hands Grace has ever seen) thinks she might be better off without the counting. If she could hold down a job, say. Or open her kitchen cupboards without conducting an inventory, or make a sandwich containing an unknown number of sprouts. Grace's problem is that Seamus doesn't count. Her other problem is...he does. Addition is a fabulous debut novel. Grace is witty, flirtatious and headstrong. She's not a bit sentimental but even so, she may be about to lose track of the number of ways she can fall in love.Reviews
Clare Scobie in "The Sydney Morning Herald": "The publishers were right in their glowing accolades for Addition. Toni Jordan has created such a real character in Grace that you are cheering her on, willing her to get to the top of the staircase, intact and unharmed. Jordan's voice is distinctive, refreshing and very Australian. Her debut novel is juicy and funny, just like its protagonist; even if I glazed over some of the numbers (there are just so many), this is a gem."
Carmen Klassen in "The StarPhoenix": "Addition is about a girl's obsession with counting, true, but it's also about falling in love and learning how to change without losing yourself in the process. It is a clever and original novel that is sure to make you laugh out loud."
Jo Case in "Australian Book Review": "Addition raises a lot of questions about our values and our society, couched in disarmingly easy-to-read prose. Why is a banker, not a baker, considered a good catch? How many of us watch more life on screen than we experience outside our homes? Why is there so much pressure to be like everyone else? What is 'normal'? Is our society over-medicalised?...The central relationships in the books are lovingly rendered, all the more so for Grace's lashings of spot-on satire about them all."
Short notices
Catherine Taylor in "The Guardian": "Brimming with sarcastic humour, Grace is an enjoyably eccentric narrator, and although the gift-wrapped denouement is pure saccharine, Jordan writes sympathetically about her neurosis."
Christina Koning in "The Times": "Bringing a quirky humour and a sympathetic view of diversity to her story, the author sustains the momentum to the end of this engaging romantic comedy."
You can read a number of small reviews on the Richard and Judy Book Club site.
Claire Looby in "The Irish Times": "Toni Jordan's debut is mature, witty and entertaining and earns her a place in the growing ranks of Australian popular fiction writers."
"The Book Chick" weblog: "This book was about being true to yourself no matter the circumstances and it was also about accepting your personal quirks as something to be valued, rather than feared."
Interviews
Louise Swinn on the "Readings" weblog.
Fiona Gruba in "The Sydney Morning Herald".
"Life Matters" on ABC Radio with Richard Aedy.
Angela Meyer on the "LiteraryMinded" weblog.
Toni Jordan on YouTube talking about her book.
Other
For "The Guardian" newspaper Jordan chose her "Top 10 Flawed Romantic Heroes".
