2025 WP longlist - Somewhere Else

[Hugh, Active moderator]

Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches

[Paul]

As a Republic of Consciousness book, this felt a slightly odd choice

But a great fit for this prize

[Hugh, Active moderator]

I rather enjoyed this one, but agree it wasn't ideal for the RofC

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I could not agree more with you both.

[Carol]

I finished the audio of this yesterday and enjoyed it. I thought it wasn’t too sentimental and had a large cast of characters but handled them well. Nothing ground breaking, but an enjoyable read.

[Cindy]

I liked this one, the first half much more than the second half. My family also left Russia/Poland at the very beginning of the 20th century due to the pogroms and came to the US rather than the UK. So the early part of the novel resonated particularly strongly for me. I thought that it got a bit unwieldy as the cast of characters grew larger and we learned less about them, and I think it would have been more successful if she had not felt compelled to cover the entirety of Rosa's life but focused on the foundational period. I'm quite surprised that this was on the RofC list but glad to have encountered it here.

[LindaJ^]

I really enjoyed this a lot but then I'm a sucker for a family saga, especially one with this much history. I did find, as you note Cindy, that the character list got a bit challenging by the end, but I would not have changed it. The last scene brought to mind how a TV series I love - This Is Us - ended. I just finished it this morning and edited my list to place it second, before I saw the shortlist.