Lead Review (The Examiner)
- Book: The Examiner
- Location: England
- Author: Janice Hallett
It is extremely unusual that a novel has no setting to speak of. Everything here takes place via the intranet of the Royal Hastings, University of London (the Mulitmedia Art MA course) and so the setting has to be England although it could be London (and possibly Hastings). Who knows? There is no mention at all of location, apart from a wild and brief outing to Somerset.
A novel set in the online world. There are discussions and interchanges that read like a WhatsApp or Slack group, where the students exchange their thoughts and worries; the tutors breeze in with assessments, new course work and discuss the group dynamics. Generally, life during the MA year is chewed over as the students settle into each new assignment.
Their trip to Somerset is pivotal – the aim is to look at antique radio sets and scarily it sounds like someone is crying for help across the airwaves. Then it seems that someone has gone missing. The course examiner raises their concerns.
I could feel my heart sink when I discovered the format of the novel. I have spent the last few years navigating large work groups and have managed to keep my sanity by skim-reading the banter and bits and bobs that are irrelevant to me personally. So, of course, I found myself doing this with this novel.
It’s hard to really get a grip on the characters, although the story is quirky, clever at times and inventive. Overall, not one for me, it felt just like being at work!
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