Singularity
"She is a master with mystery, very contemporary and astute... Her language is relaxed, spare and perfect.
– Jane Campion in The Guardian
Charlotte Grimshaw's collection of interlinked stories, Opportunity, was shortlisted for the 2007 Frank O'Connor International Prize and won New Zealand's premier award for fiction, the 2008 Montana Medal for Fiction or Poetry in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. She has described Opportunity as a single unified composition, less a series of stories than a novel with a large cast of characters. Singularity, her powerful second collection, further develops the structure she explored in Opportunity. Characters from that book reappear and new characters are added.
The stories in Singularity cover a wide range of territory, from childhood innocence to adult desperation, from the depths of poverty to cushioned affluence, from London to Los Angeles, Ayers Rock to the black sand beaches of New Zealand's wild west coast. The stories can be read as discrete pieces, yet each contributes to a unifying narrative. Richly detailed, vivid with local colour, each story is an inspection of human motive and of the complex ties that bind the five principal characters together.
"Grimshaw's vivid descriptions...are a joy." - The Times Literary Supplement
"One of the most accomplished and gripping short story collections in some time... believable, multi-layered characters who spring fully formed form the page." - The Glasgow Herald
"Stylistically, Singularity is stunning. Grimshaw's pose is crisp, elegant and richly descriptive... Most importantly, whether taken together, or in single serves, these stories are page-turning reads." - The New Zealand Herald
"Full of subtle and suggestive links. Charlotte Grimshaw is a stunning writer... Throughout, Grimshaw's control of language is exquisite and almost painfully acute." - New Zealand Listener
"It's official. Auckland's Charlotte Grimshaw is one of the best short-story writers in the world." - The Weekend Press
In 2009, Singularity was shortlisted for the world's richest short story award, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize.
Also shortlisted for the 2009 Asia Pacific Section of the Commonwealth Writer's Prize
