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Death of the author

by
October 2009, no. 315

The Children’s Writer by Gary Crew

Fourth Estate, $27.99 pb, 234 pp, 9780732285869

Death of the author

by
October 2009, no. 315

Although Fourth Estate heralds this as Gary Crew’s first adult novel, readers who have followed his long career as a celebrated writer for young people will be aware that several of his Young Adult novels could be classified as ‘crossovers’. What defines them as such is the age and experience of their narrators: Kimmy of Angel’s Gate (1993) may be ten years old, but the story is told fifteen years later by an adult, Kim. Similarly, the teenage Sarah’s evidence indicts Mama Pratchett, but she relates the story of Mama’s Babies (1998) many years after the trial. Retrospective narration allows Crew to transcend the limitations of a youthful viewpoint and to look back upon events with mature wisdom, a technique he again employs in The Children’s Writer.

The Children’s Writer

The Children’s Writer

by Gary Crew

Fourth Estate, $27.99 pb, 234 pp, 9780732285869

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