Susan Hill's praise of Anita Brookner

Caption: Anita Brookner

I've often thought that participating in one lit fest too many and being announced in town as a writer of such and such a book, makes the novelist in question, too accessible. Sometimes in the rush to sell a book, a writer especially, sacrifices his/her own mystery...an intrigue and allure that comes naturally to the artistic and which leaves a beguiled reader gasping and wanting for more. This, like holding a key to a treasure chest.

I thought I was only one who felt this way. So I loved Susan Hill's take on Anita Brookner when she said of the former Booker prize winner for Hotel Du Lac ...She has never been part of the circus of modern book publishing, never gone on the tours and done the litfests - for which I admire her even more.... You may read the whole post HERE.

P.S. I've only just seen it and slipped in a comment rather late. Here is one of my lines: ...when I read Brookner, I feel as if I am stranded in the autumn and even on the last page - still unwilling to leave its light....