I had always thought myself a reader of fiction which relied on stories which were grounded, and didn’t take you to other realms, such as fantasy, or science fiction. I am speaking as my adult self here, for I certainly read and enjoyed fairytales as a child. Recently I attended the Auckland Writers Festival, and was lucky to hear Australian writer Trent Dalton speak. The Auditorium was packed, and the audience didn’t just wait until the end to show spontaneous applause. Afterwards I bought the title All Our Shimmering Skies, rather than Boy Swallows Universe, as the blurb on cover said it was better. Perfect timing as I was flying to Australia soon after and I was keen to get ‘stuck in’. It certainly was a page turner and I’d almost finished it before touchdown.

While there, I was offered Dalton’s later book, Lola in the Mirror to read. Boy! I was totally caught up with the main protagonists in both books, young women whose characters were so convincing and appealing, both with collapsed family situations and fleeing awful situations, at times with an edge of fantasy. But I got caught up in their plights, and I was basically riveted to my seat while reading both. Sure, there were a couple of times I thought a few nasty sequences could have been skipped, but on the whole I absorbed the fantastical parts and loved them, as they worked with the main character’s inner thoughts. This led me to thinking about other books I have really enjoyed in recent years and I was surprised to find most held some components that required the suspension of reality.

I also heard Bonnie Gamus speak at the Auckland Writers Festival and really enjoyed her spontaneity and wit. I had read her Lessons in Chemistry some months back, which was labelled ‘The Number One Global, Bestseller’. Another thing I usually shy away from are such grandiose claims. But as a trusted reader friend had recommended it, I thought it should be okay. I loved it! Mainly because it dealt with patterns of behaviour by men in the workplace (1960s), where women were made feel inferior, or, just overlooked. What I hadn’t expected to find as part of the story was the dog Six-Thirty whose thoughts were there to be read, and also the protagonists belief that she was teaching him to understand human language. Yep, I loved Six-Thirty. In fact, I loved the whole book. The female protagonist is as inspiring as Bonnie Garmus herself!

And, the most surprising thing I discovered after finding I did like fantastical writing after all is that I had in fact been reading it for years. What was Haruki Murakami’s writing if not fantastical? One of his earlier books I’d read, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, I had loved as there was the most believable teenage girl as protagonist. She was so authentic. I enjoyed going with her to all those fantastical places and throughly enjoyed the ride. So clearly I don’t just enjoy everything being from one realm. And here I was thinking I was a bit old-fashioned, and it turns out I’m open to new reading experiences after all!

But, returning to the success of the first author I mentioned, Trent Dalton, not everyone feels the same as the thousands of readers who love his work. Before writing this little post I checked out a review of Lola in The Mirror, from The Guardian, and was most surprised at its slating stance. The header read A misguided bootstraps story drowning in sentimentality. The rest was equally damning, though I could not locate a name responsible for the review. I was taken aback by the vitriol as it did not seem an objective view. I know that we all find different things to take from a piece of fiction and there will be ‘faults’ to be found in any piece of writing, but this rant by the Guardian person was over the top. And most undeserving, in my view.

Lucky so many of us like engaging so well with Trent Dalton’s characters that we wish to keep turning the pages. Just maybe, that’s the anonymous reviewer’s problem.