Book of the Week: THE SHADOW OF THE OBJECT by Chloe Aridjis
‘Chloe Aridjis’s mysterious and free-wheeling novel begins with an unsettling image: a seemingly disembodied hand, waving in mid-air, which is swiftly bitten by a confused Alsatian. The subsequent story, which follows the jewellery polisher Flora as she recovers from the attack in Mexico City before returning home to London, is similarly rich in strange imagery that slips us between the real world and dream-states. There’s darkened figure in a hospital corridor; figures flickering on a wall; a vignette from the point of view of a mouse. We were charmed by the novel’s meditation on friendship and grief, and its suggestion that the most meaningful truths can be found in the shadows.’ —2026 Booker Prize judges’ citation
”Chloe Aridjis is a revolutionary who is quietly changing the whole novel form. She is mining the richest seam in the vast field of fiction and coming up with gold. Her radiantly lyrical and intelligent writing is thrilling to read.” —Neel Mukherjee
”Clandestine, compassionate, and ever so slightly off-kilter, Chloe Aridjis's magnificent sleight of hand reshuffles the novel and places before us a beautiful and mischievous magic lantern of a book that casts out a multitude of unforgettable scenes, while shining a steady granular light on the hidden depths of the human psyche.” —Claire-Louise Bennett