Kate Womersley

No pain, no gain

It’s what she recommends. And the music does strike a deep chord with the rebellion at the heart of this dystopian tale

issue 05 August 2017

It is an unexpected pleasure when fiction has a soundtrack to accompany the work of reviewing. H(A)PPY is ‘best enjoyed in conjunction with Agustin Barrios: The Complete Historical Guitar Recordings’, Nicola Barker advises before her text gets underway.

It’s tempting to dismiss this as a gimmick. But Barrios’s music strikes a deep chord with the rebellion at the heart of Barker’s 12th novel.

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