The Other Hand - Chris Cleave Reviews

"The other Hand" by Chris Cleave ISBN 978-0340963425 Published by Sceptre; Paperback Edition ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chris Cleave was born in London in 1973 and was brought up both in Cameroon and Buckinghamshire and went to Oxford University where he studied Psychology. He has written two novels, 'Incendiary' ...  Read the complete review

I began to read this book on the basis of its nominations for literary awards and the fact that I had read a couple of reviews about it. I didn't really know what to expect from the plot, but the publishers blurb had me intrigued so I gave it a try. The narrative jumps around between places and is non-sequencial (i.e. flashbacks) which some people ...  Read the complete review

"The Other Hand" by Chris Cleave is a book about which there has been a lot of hype. It was shortlisted for the 2008 COSTA Novel Award. The back of the book continues the hype by saying "We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it....... Once you have read it, ...  Read the complete review

As I wandered into my local Waterstones on that fabled Friday to treat myself to my monthly fresh book - much as I adore and live through second hand books, nothing beats that new book smell - I came face to face with this little number. I don't own it in bright orange, but the design of the cover was interesting enough that I picked it ...  Read the complete review

I read a lot of books and tend to select them based on people's recommendations or when they are on special offer. The Other Hand by Chris Cleeves was one such book, half price and a Costa Coffee award implied I would be in for a good read. The blurb was different from most, not telling you about the story but simply that the writer wanted to ...  Read the complete review

"We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it." This is the first line of the blurb on the back of this book. It goes on to give minimal details of what the story is roughly about because "you need to know enough to buy it". Whilst trying to write ...  Read the complete review

This book is currently in the best-sellers list, and I bought it purely because of the blurb. The blurb basically says 'we don't want to give away what this book is about, but it is really good, so please read it, then give it to someone else without telling them what it's about'. I am not stupid: I know a marketting ploy when I see ...  Read the complete review