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Mo said she was quirky is a new novel
by Booker prizewinner James Kelman.
Her
boyfriend said she was quirky but it was more than that.
Some things were important in life. You had to fight for
them. Helen was prepared for that - only she wasn't as
strong as people thought. Working nightshift as a dealer
in a London casino didn't help. Her young daughter at
home in bed - just how safe was she? The gamblers
staring you down, night after night after night. Then on
the way home from work this tall, skinny, down-at-heel
guy crossed the road in front of her taxi. Brian? Her
long-lost brother? How could it be?
Twenty-four hours
in the life of Helen, an ordinary young woman - as
ordinary, as unique, as each and every one of
us.
Praise for Mo said she was quirky:
'A
charming and often tender book. A small gem of a novel
from one of our greatest living writers'
TimeOut
'What is remarkable about Mo said
she was quirky is its gentleness, its compassion,
its desire to understand, its art' Herald
'A
brilliant novel . . . The sort of threadbare life lived
by Helen is so rarely given any unsentimental coverage
in fiction that . . . Kelman may have written his most
important novel yet. This should be the lead item on
everyone's summer reading list'
Independent
'Absorbing, affecting .
. . Helen is a character drawn with a rare empathy and
patience . . . Kelman's dialogue is minimal but acute'
Financial Times
'Sad, tender . . . Kelman is
not a growling and sanctimonious stereotype, but a
bitter-sweet laureate of decency' Stuart Kelly, The
Times
'An urgent,
compassionate, mesmerising reflection of our present
moment' Independent on Sunday
James
Kelman was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His story
collections include Greyhound for Breakfast,
The Burn, The Good Times and most recently
If it is your life. His novel How late
it was, how late won the 1994 Booker Prize. Other
novels include Translated Accounts, You Have
to be Careful in the Land of the Free and Kieron
Smith, boy. In 2009 and 2011 James Kelman was
shortlisted for the MAN Booker International Prize.
Mo said she was quirky was the Saltire Society
Book of the Year for 2012.
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