Gloriously entertaining, intelligent, presented with great insight and skill. An exuberant comedy of human behaviour at its nuttiest.” - The Times From the cover and the publisher's summary, I assumed The Dog Of The North was going to be another take on the familiar theme of Redemption By Roadtrip. One of those books where a likeable woman has arrived, through a series of unfortunate events, at a point where the life she'd expected to live has imploded so she sets out on a lone quest to find a new place where she can belong and along the way, she encounters larger-than-life characters who help her discover her inner strength and some of whom become her found-family when she finally starts to build a life that will help her be her true self. Cue sunset and happy-ever-after music. It's a good theme and I'd have been happy to see a few new twists on old tropes. Penny shows many signs of being neurodivergent without explicitly saying it herself. A very accidentally apt book for me as I started reading it during neurodivergent awareness week and didn’t realise that the book touched on topics involving this when I started it. However I did see much of myself in Penny and felt a comfort in reading about the world through her eyes, which I oftentimes find missing in many of the fictional pieces I read. The Dog of the North follows Penny on her quest for a fresh start. There will be a road trip in an old van with gingham curtains, a piñata, and stiff brakes. There will be injury and peril. There will be a dog named "Kweecoats" and two brothers who may share a toupée. There will be questions: Why is a detective investigating her grandmother, and what is "the scintillator"? And can Penny recognize a good thing when it finally comes her way? As for me - I bought this book IMMEDIATELY… never read one review - THAT’S how much I wanted to read it. I tried to get an advanced copy of it months ago from Netgalley— NOT that I minded paying for it — I just knew I wanted it — but I never heard from the Netgalley folks - no yes or no

Or it’s her trying to stay calm by finding something about her current dilemma that isn’t so bad. Like when she’s sleeping in the van, the night in the parking lot in Santa Barbara and she hears the owls. And that, for the moment, reassures her—despite the fact that she finds out the next morning they’ve been ripping apart an animal carcass. That may come from my own mechanism for coping with stress: looking for the one little thing that can make things okay for the moment! Kweekoats [a canine character in the novel] is named after Don Quixote and the story takes place on the road. Was Don Quixote on your mind when you were writing this novel? An addictive read with an ultimately hopeful core that recalls Haruki Murakami, Sayaka Murata, Richard Brautigan, and Miranda July”– Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers Her stepsister, Margaret settled in Australia with a perfect family and good life. Actually, this one is a boon. By the way, the publisher seems to have gotten ahead of itself with that statement. The Dog Of The North is on the Women's Prize For Fiction Longlist but the Shortlist won't be announced until 28th April, more than a month from now.I love Penny’s first person perspective. She’s such an interesting character who is so passive, yet has a resolve and patience so solid that it makes her almost active in a way. This slyly humorous, thoroughly winsome novel finds the purpose in life's curveballs, insisting that even when we are painfully warped by those we love most, we can be brought closer to our truest selves. Over a yummy Mexican meal and margaritas, Burt and Penny we’re getting to know each other. Burt was a trusted accountant to Penny’s grandmother. A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.

With what passes for optimism, she declares, “My future was up for grabs.” Her greatest goal is to “achieve a conventional lifestyle.” It doesn’t look promising. Likely the origins of the book are in my family’s immigration to Australia, thoughts about expatriation, and the realization that feelings of joy can exist side by side with loss. Look for what’s already there. I take this to mean that it’s possible to have planted important seeds early in the work without consciously having done so.

Success!

Burt began to rhapsodize about my grandmother. She’s a great lady, whatever you say, at the end of the day, he said. A great lady. I’ve learned a lot from her. She is one of the worlds. Great people, he said to my surprise”.