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berndm's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely masterful how everything is kept in a fine-tuned balance until all comes crashing down.
textpublishing's review against another edition
5.0
‘A scrupulously written, scarifying story of impending tragedy, which is to give nothing away…A picture of domestic tension, violence and disintegration.’
Sydney Morning Herald, Books for Your Holiday Reading
‘The standout novel for me was Michael Sala’s ferocious family drama The Restorer. In a year that made me think again and again about why men do terrible things, Sala’s emotional tour-de-force dares to confront some of those causes and the implications of violence at a social level.’
Gretchen Shirm, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘Michael Sala is a sensitive, perceptive observer of human relationships and I have long admired his work. The Restorer is a beautifully written novel about growing up, starting again—and how the riptide of personal history can pull us further and further from safety, no matter how hard we fight.’
Charlotte Wood
‘There is so much to praise about this book. Michael Sala’s prose is clear and unadorned, the setting exquisitely rendered, but it is the characters - Freya, Maryanne, Roy and Daniel - all of them flawed and complex and deeply, deeply human, who will stay with me for a very long time. I would defy anyone to read their story and remain unmoved. The Restorer is an incredibly powerful novel and, I believe, an important one.’
Hannah Kent
‘A wise and timely novel that builds and breaks like a summer storm—just as beautiful, just as brutal.’
Fiona McFarlane
‘Michael Sala has a rare gift: in prose that takes your breath away, he tells a story of heart-rending sorrow without a trace of sentimentality.’
Raimond Gaita on The Last Thread
‘A confronting and compelling story of a family. Sala captures perfectly the puzzled silence of the uncomprehending child in a narrative swollen with unspoken secrets.’
Debra Adelaide on The Last Thread
‘Recommended for readers of literary fiction who appreciate exploring the darker realities of Australian life now and in our not-so-distant past.’
Books+Publishing
‘Sala's story of mundane domestic tension explodes in ways both already anticipated and powerfully surprising. The narrative is real, compelling, sophisticated,and deeply human.’
4ZZZFM
‘Sala’s account is sophisticated and shows the immense complexity of relationships.’
Good Reading
‘Sala’s second novel is assured and polished and adds potency to the outcry against domestic violence.’
Herald Sun
‘Michael Sala’s beautifully shaped second novel glows with all the complicated pain and joy of being human…A tremendous depth of insight and compassion on the part of the writer informs the three main characters…The reader knows pain is coming but the power and deep humanity of Sala’s writing defies the instinct to look away.’
SA Weekend
‘Entrancing and heartbreakingly sad.’
Who Weekly
‘The Restorer is a beautifully written and very powerful fiction that not only shines a light on the deep roots of domestic violence but also plays with the line of what remains in the face of such destruction. Sala’s story will stay with the reader long after the book is finished.’
Compulsive Reader
‘This is a sensitively rendered novel with a fine eye for emotional and physical detail. The questions it raises are as disturbing as they are compelling.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Now, I’m not self-promoting here, but I will be on stage [at Sydney Writers Festival] with Newcastle writer Michael Sala. Indeed, the only person I’m promoting is Sala, as his unsettling family novel The Restorer is superb.’
Stephen Romei, Australian
‘His style is spare and direct, as if parading its lack of trickiness and fanfare; but underneath it swells a great, unwieldy tide of emotion.’
Overland
‘The Restorer is a powerful, emotionally charged and thought provoking book.’
Pile by the Bed
‘Michael Sala taps into the tension and fear of the times to help build the mood…The cracks are widening long before the earth moves in this novel of a family locked into patterns of violence.’
Australian Women’s Weekly
‘The Restorer is a powerful, emotionally charged and thought provoking book. Yet again shining a light on a pervasive strain in Australian society, Sala effectively builds the tension based on a certain fatalistic inevitability. The storm was always coming and it was always going to break.’
PS News
Sydney Morning Herald, Books for Your Holiday Reading
‘The standout novel for me was Michael Sala’s ferocious family drama The Restorer. In a year that made me think again and again about why men do terrible things, Sala’s emotional tour-de-force dares to confront some of those causes and the implications of violence at a social level.’
Gretchen Shirm, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘Michael Sala is a sensitive, perceptive observer of human relationships and I have long admired his work. The Restorer is a beautifully written novel about growing up, starting again—and how the riptide of personal history can pull us further and further from safety, no matter how hard we fight.’
Charlotte Wood
‘There is so much to praise about this book. Michael Sala’s prose is clear and unadorned, the setting exquisitely rendered, but it is the characters - Freya, Maryanne, Roy and Daniel - all of them flawed and complex and deeply, deeply human, who will stay with me for a very long time. I would defy anyone to read their story and remain unmoved. The Restorer is an incredibly powerful novel and, I believe, an important one.’
Hannah Kent
‘A wise and timely novel that builds and breaks like a summer storm—just as beautiful, just as brutal.’
Fiona McFarlane
‘Michael Sala has a rare gift: in prose that takes your breath away, he tells a story of heart-rending sorrow without a trace of sentimentality.’
Raimond Gaita on The Last Thread
‘A confronting and compelling story of a family. Sala captures perfectly the puzzled silence of the uncomprehending child in a narrative swollen with unspoken secrets.’
Debra Adelaide on The Last Thread
‘Recommended for readers of literary fiction who appreciate exploring the darker realities of Australian life now and in our not-so-distant past.’
Books+Publishing
‘Sala's story of mundane domestic tension explodes in ways both already anticipated and powerfully surprising. The narrative is real, compelling, sophisticated,and deeply human.’
4ZZZFM
‘Sala’s account is sophisticated and shows the immense complexity of relationships.’
Good Reading
‘Sala’s second novel is assured and polished and adds potency to the outcry against domestic violence.’
Herald Sun
‘Michael Sala’s beautifully shaped second novel glows with all the complicated pain and joy of being human…A tremendous depth of insight and compassion on the part of the writer informs the three main characters…The reader knows pain is coming but the power and deep humanity of Sala’s writing defies the instinct to look away.’
SA Weekend
‘Entrancing and heartbreakingly sad.’
Who Weekly
‘The Restorer is a beautifully written and very powerful fiction that not only shines a light on the deep roots of domestic violence but also plays with the line of what remains in the face of such destruction. Sala’s story will stay with the reader long after the book is finished.’
Compulsive Reader
‘This is a sensitively rendered novel with a fine eye for emotional and physical detail. The questions it raises are as disturbing as they are compelling.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Now, I’m not self-promoting here, but I will be on stage [at Sydney Writers Festival] with Newcastle writer Michael Sala. Indeed, the only person I’m promoting is Sala, as his unsettling family novel The Restorer is superb.’
Stephen Romei, Australian
‘His style is spare and direct, as if parading its lack of trickiness and fanfare; but underneath it swells a great, unwieldy tide of emotion.’
Overland
‘The Restorer is a powerful, emotionally charged and thought provoking book.’
Pile by the Bed
‘Michael Sala taps into the tension and fear of the times to help build the mood…The cracks are widening long before the earth moves in this novel of a family locked into patterns of violence.’
Australian Women’s Weekly
‘The Restorer is a powerful, emotionally charged and thought provoking book. Yet again shining a light on a pervasive strain in Australian society, Sala effectively builds the tension based on a certain fatalistic inevitability. The storm was always coming and it was always going to break.’
PS News
hayley_loves_books's review against another edition
3.0
A book with beautiful well written prose. The story line itself however is bleak and depressing and confrontational. Domestic violence exists but it was hard to read of the destruction it took on this family. I felt saddened and glum by the end of this novel. I read to escape and the story content was an escape to hell.
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