reviews

critical praise

“Like the masterful Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Maclear creates a layered world that is both real and dream-like.... Her language and tone are just right, neither sentimental nor sensationalist. Maclear’s instincts are apt in leavening her potentially dark tale with dashes of humour.... In The Letter Opener all the elements of craft are woven together into a rich and seamless tapestry. It is hard to believe that this is a first novel. Maclear is a writer with many gifts, all of them on display in this strong debut.”
— The Montreal Gazette

“A graceful debut [that] illuminates what the objects in people’s lives reveal about them”
— Chatelaine

“Maclear is a novelist of promise. She has a way of drawing characters and drawing readers to them.”
— Hamilton Spectator

“Maclear [has] a very felicitous way with words that makes the book a compelling read… There are piercing insights here, particularly about the nature of the immigrant experience in Canada…There is resonance and thoughtfulness to Maclear’s writing, in her visceral championing of the lost, the forgotten, the quiet, and even the shabby.”
— Quill and Quire (Feature Review)

“Maclear’s writing is thoughtful and well paced…Where she shines is in her thoughtful ruminations on how possessions, mere things, are not always just possessions or mere things. Things tell stories, often tragic ones — the enumeration of Naiko’s mother’s possessions, which include 163 ballpoint pens and 51 empty egg cartons, poignantly shows a woman slowly losing her mind.”
— Edmonton Journal

“A subtle moving literary debut … Maclear handles the story with care and attention to detail… The Letter Opener is a promising start for Maclear as a novelist.”
— The Now

“Nothing in Naiko’s life seems securely anchored: just as Maclear's prose bubbles with multiple meanings. The title could indicate Naiko, Andrei, or the common object that resembles a knife... In this unusual, cerebral tale, Maclear shows her young narrator striving — successfully at last—to connect the missing pieces into the great puzzle that is the world.”
—Toronto Star

“Kyo Maclear can write.”
— The Globe and Mail

“In her wise and lovely first novel, Maclear explores the workings of human attachment.”
— Women’s Post

“This quiet, beautifully written & thoughtful novel about a postal clerk & her efforts to reconnect people with their misdirected mail at the Undeliverable Mail Office provides remarkable insights into the mercurial nature of identity, loss & personal history.”
— North49 Books

“This is a wonderful story of memory, loss and acceptance.”
— Café Books (Alberta)

“A really good book and excellent first novel. There is an attention to detail that isn’t just a neurotic cataloguing, but considers the emotional nuances.”
— Electric Pages

“The words are masterfully chosen. In this way the book was reminiscent of a fine book of poetry or a beautiful painting — every word is deliberate. The result was a touching book, something that you want to read slowly to take it all in, as the pieces all fit together so delicately. I loved this book.”
— The Book Chick

advance praise

“Maclear has produced an ingenious work of fiction that combines rich, intimate characters with a narrative that unfolds like a puzzle box. The Letter Opener is that rare book that nourishes both the mind and the heart, at once wise and tender. A stunning, lyrical debut.”
— Naomi Klein

“This is an extraordinarily thoughtful novel about the travails of the diaspora of lost souls who have been the victims of totalitarian regimes. It all feels so tranquil, so exact, so hallucinatory in a tidy and scientifically organized way, the report of such a careful, observant, and honest witness.”
— Elisabeth Harvor, author of Excessive Joy Injures the Heart and Let me be the One

“Kyo Maclear’s sense of humanity is indispensable. It’s the basis of her commitment to history's forgotten and undelivered. Her voice is exquisite, brilliant, incisive.”
— Joy Kogawa

For more “First Look” reader reviews, see: www.harpercanada.com