Ali Shaw graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in English literature and has since worked as a bookseller and at Oxford’s Bodleian Library.The Girl with Glass Feet, his highly acclaimed first novel, won The Desmond Elliott Prize for 2010. The judges said: “After some soul searching and much debate, we decided on The Girl with Glass Feet as our winner. This is an extraordinary first novel - bold, original, tragic and endlessly surprising. In its exploration of frozen landscapes, both interior and exterior, and in its precisely detailed and articulated fantasy, it is possible to see a substantial author of the future.”
Shaw has described The Girl With Glass Feet as "a love story about a woman who is turning into glass."
For the Guardian, he named his top ten stories of metamorphosis. One title on the list:
Read about another book on the list."The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F Scott Fitzgerald
Populised by the recent film, but very different indeed, Fitzgerald's original story is funny and economical. It reminds me of that old riddle that asks what goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening, because it makes infancy and old age look like similar things.
Read an excerpt from Shaw's The Girl with Glass Feet, and learn more about the book and author at Ali Shaw's website and blog.
The Page 69 Test: The Girl with Glass Feet.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
