BOOKER SHORTLIST: ‘She herself has been taken by surprise at how much it matters to her, this buried question from long ago. … that particular stone never seems to find a resting place, no matter how often it’s turned’. A novelist examines the constantly returning inadequately repressed content in the body of individuals, families and nations. A reflection on Damon Galgut (2021) ‘The Promise’
CONTAINS SPOILERS. Be aware if you like to read your novels unaware. This great book is on the SHORTLIST ‘She herself has been taken by surprise at how much it matters to her, this buried question from long ago. … that particular stone never seems to find a resting place, no matter how often it’s … More BOOKER SHORTLIST: ‘She herself has been taken by surprise at how much it matters to her, this buried question from long ago. … that particular stone never seems to find a resting place, no matter how often it’s turned’. A novelist examines the constantly returning inadequately repressed content in the body of individuals, families and nations. A reflection on Damon Galgut (2021) ‘The Promise’


![‘Their reticence is inviolable’. ‘(W)hat has [she] got to say about it? Nothing’. [1] Does the stress on the silence of paintings matter when the painters are women rather than men? And, if so, why? Reflecting on the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Laing Gallery’s 2021 exhibition, dedicated to Amy Barker.](https://i0.wp.com/livesteven.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-48.png?resize=365%2C205&ssl=1)




![‘It was then that Adrian [Ryan] told me of his regular, sexual trinity involving Johnny [Minton] and Lucian [Freud] in the latter’s St. John’s Wood “squalor” located in Abercorn Place, NW1.’ A reflection on the Unholy Trinity: Freud, Minton, Ryan exhibition currently at Bath.](https://i0.wp.com/livesteven.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/image-29.png?resize=365%2C365&ssl=1)