Labrador (novel)
| Author | Kathryn Davis |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1988 (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). Reprint 2019 (Graywolf Press) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 232 |
| ISBN | 978-1555978303 |
Labrador is a 1988 novel by Kathryn Davis. It is Davis's debut novel.
Major themes
The novel deals with sibling rivalry, parental love, adult irrationality, and is a coming-of-age story about two young girls struggling with the powerful changes in their bodies and minds.[1][2]
Publication history
It was originally published in 1988 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. The novel went out of print before being reissued by Graywolf Press on March 5, 2019.[3]
Literary significance and reception
John Crowley, reviewing the novel in 1988, wrote, "Kathryn Davis has taken the sad and binding stuff of many a first novel - the inescapable family, the growth into knowledge, the heavy burden of physical life and the queasy processes of becoming - and fashioned genuinely new embodiments for it."[2]
Michiko Kakutani, also reviewing the novel for The New York Times, wrote, "Ms. Davis demonstrates a formidable talent for capturing the savage confusions of youth. She is able to map out the fuzzy frontiers that exist in a child's mind between reality and fantasy and in doing so also to convey the perils of childhood and adolescence -both the real and the imagined."[4]
References
- ^ LABRADOR by Kathryn Davis | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ a b Crowley, John (1988-08-14). "The Angel Fell for Willie". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
- ^ "Labrador | Graywolf Press". www.graywolfpress.org. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
- ^ Kakutani, Michiko (1988-07-09). "Books of The Times; Darkness Under 2 Sisters' Innocence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-07-29.