Sarah Falkner’s debut novel Animal Sanctuary is the winner of the 7th Starcherone annual prize for innovative fiction. The novel is a complex rendering of the injustices, abuses and incongruities that keep the art world thriving. It’s a sad chronicle of the sacrifices artists will make to honor their art, and it’s a study on the beauty and savage nature of art.
It was tough to review the book because so much about it is different, and so much of it is also familiar, at least in terms of theme. But Animal Sanctuary bodes well for the future of innovative fiction. Written in the form of a braided narrative, Animal Sanctuary uses film synopses, audio transcripts, letters, emails and other narrative mediums seldom employed in traditional fiction to piece together the lives of Kitty and Rory Dawson, a film starlet and her son who, together, focus their art on the neglect and abuse of savage nature, even as they struggle to understand the meaning of their lives.
Check out my full review on Fiction Writers’ Review, or else check out the book, a definite must-read for what’s on the cutting edge of fiction. Enjoy!
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Author | Laura Valeri 