Original language: English
Original title: Oxblood
Translation: Olaia Rodriguez
Year of publication: 2023
Valuation: Irregular, although definitely recommendable
Dark blood won in 2022 el Sunday Time Charlotte Aitken. Without a doubt, Tom Benn’s novel is worthy of this award, which awards the best young writer of the year in the United Kingdom. After all has been resolved with a solvency nothing negligible; besides, Although it never risks too much, it is ambitious both in form and substance..
It’s about Jan, Carol and Nedra, three women belonging to different generations They fight, each in their own way, against the criminal legacy of the Dodds name.
There are several, in my opinion, the virtues of Dark blood:
- Its setting. Both the social portrait of the Manchester suburbs in the 1960s y 1980s just as sordid descriptions of homes or pubs lend verisimilitude to the setting and atmosphere.
- Their characters. They feel believable, alive; Even those who are more passive and subdued, like Carol, intrigue the reader and have the opportunity to make a grand gesture towards the climax of the story.
- Your argument. Narrated organically through a back and forth between present and past, it also keeps the occasional twist up its sleeve.
- The topics. The work deals with issues of class and gender with astonishing ease. Of his many contributions, I prefer those that revolve around female sexuality, learned the hard way by Jan in her desperate search for love..
- His prose. The author’s pen endows certain passages with great emotional depth, lyrical power and stylistic quality.
Summarizing: Dark blood It is a good novel, worthy of prestigious literary awards. Although as a reader you come to admire it more than enjoy it, you have to admit that it wastes achievements. Perhaps, yes, I would put some objection to it; for example, that it barely ends up exploring its “noir” vocation, that during its first half it is not clear in which direction the plot will move and that Jan’s character eclipses the rest.
Source: https://unlibroaldia.blogspot.com/2024/04/tom-benn-sangre-oscura.html
