Reviews: Dislocations

Ripe with humour, wisdom and melacholy,... one of the most satisfying fiction collections in a long time.

— Valerie Miner, Philadelphia Enquirer

Turner Hospital has a rich, allusive style and a gift for intensity which etches the geography of her characters' inner lives as sharply as it does the cities, towns and climates in which they live.

— Sandra Hall, The Bulletin Australia

A superlative writer whose technique has become so strong..

—Heather Faulkner, The Australian

"In this aptly titled gathering, we experience the uprootedness of people whose lives are changed by circumstances over which they have no control," remarked PW , calling Hospital's short-story debut "richly diverse."
— Publishers Weekly

Hospital, author of three novels, here presents 17 stories variously set in Australia, where she was born, and in India, Canada and New York, where she has lived. In 'Happy Diwali' a group of emigre Indians wear quilted eiderdown over their delicate Kashmiri silk to guard against the fierce Canadian winter. They cover themselves with outer garments of necessity and assimilation, keeping their own culture underneath. In 'After Long Absence' the narrator tells us, "I know about words . . . about the depth charges they carry." Returning to her childhood home in Australia, beset by old, unresolved conflicts, she is acutely aware of these depth charges. Like all of us, Hospital's characters are dislocated by events in the past that intrude and warp the present. Thoughtful stories, written with grace and a generous spirit.

— Marcia Tager, Library Journal