Why Isn't Nicola Griffith Way More Famous?

One of the pleasures of being bookish, Seattlest feels, is the opportunity to ignore what's new this week and catch up on unread books by favorite authors.

Since we're fans of local author Nicola Griffith's thrillers, we picked up her second novel, Slow River.

We were, well, underwhelmed. Some of it’s personal taste: Lore, the heroine, spends most of the book figuring out who she is, which means she’s unformed and passive for much of the novel, driven by fear and hesitancy. She felt realistic but wasn't engaging. Several supporting characters were more interesting, but underused; Lore's family, on the other hand, seemed important but undeveloped.

More annoyingly, Griffith indulges in one our our literary pet peeves: switching between first and third person. Like we said, personal taste. We thought it was a fine novel, just uncompelling.

Maybe we just prefer thrillers, because we're much bigger fans of Griffith's later books The Blue Place and Stay. Aud Torvingen is a well-drawn heroine, a dynamo of efficiency who ends up confronting the evils in others while dealing with the mess of love, betrayal, grief, and other emotions.

We recommend both books highly. We can't wait for a film adaptation (though none seems to be forthcoming -- criminal). And we especially look forward to the next book in the series, because it sounds like Griffith gives one heck of an author reading.

All three books are available at the Seattle Public Library, though Ammonite, Griffith’s first novel, is not. Check your favorite local bookstore.