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Aifric Campbell's THE LOSS ADJUSTOR is published to widespread acclaim
20 April 2010
Aifric Campbell's second novel has been stealthily gathering praise from reviewers on both sides of the Irish sea.
A powerful story of a life frozen by traumatic childhood events, its main character, Caro, is a City loss adjustor, struggling to quantify the losses in her own life.
Aifric Campbell's debut, THE SEMANTICS OF MURDER, had critics speculating as to whether she was in fact Ian McEwan writing under a pseudonym, such was the accomplishment of her prose. A promising talent to watch...
'Aifric Campbell is one of my favourite Irish novelists and I love this book. It's written with seriousness, lightness, intelligence and insight, but most of all with great beauty and presence' - Joseph O'Connor
'Sexy, sad, riven with longing, The Loss Adjustor confirms a talent of unusual promise' - Nicholas Shakespeare
'Campbell allows her disturbing story to seep out slowly and to deliver unnerving punches in this extremely well-paced novel' Mslexia
'So full of beautiful writing that even the insurance industry comes to life. From its beguiling first sentence – “I was born in a place that presumed departure” – to its simple, humane ending, it is beautiful to read. Aifric Campbell’s language is rich and exact, never flowering into too much; she is concise without being dry, her characters painted in deft, tight strokes' Suzanne Harrington, Irish Examiner
'Aifric Campbell’s absorbing second novel celebrates friendship past and present and the enduring hope of redemption' Waterstone's Books Quarterly
'Clear-eyed, lyrical... Campbell manages to infuse the cool, lucid language of narrator with some truly luminous descriptions of place and emotion... a book that demands to be taken seriously, both because of its ambitions and the beauty of its writing' Catherine Heaney, Irish Times
'Campbell writes with lambent precision... a mesmerising study of a woman clinging to the knotted cord of adolescence, uncertain whether to go backwards or forwards' - John O'Connell, Guardian
'Campbell’s style is lyrical, revealing sharp, important truths with mesmerising intensity as Caro begins to embrace a future that is rich with possibility, hope and reconciliation' - Eithne Farry, Daily Mail
'The imagery is evocative, the narrative well-paced and there is a genuine sense of sympathy with the main character. Thought-provoking' - Scotsman
'The flawless depiction of a life destroyed by the devastating loss of a loved one is testament to her skill as a writer' - Jennifer Ryan, Sunday Independent
'Campbell’s eloquent prose is both beautiful and compelling, making The Loss Adjustor a haunting and gripping novel' - Ulster Tatler
'A powerful and thought-provoking book ... the real beauty lies in her elegant and evocative prose' - Sunday Business Post