A Child's Book of True Crime

A Child's Book of True Crime
AuthorChloe Hooper
LanguageEnglish
GenreCrime novel
PublisherPenguin
Publication date
March 19, 2002
Publication placeAustralia
Pages238
ISBN0-7432-2512-0

A Child's Book of True Crime is a novel by Australian author Chloe Hooper, published in 2001 by Penguin. It was shortlisted for the 2002 Women's Prize for Fiction.

Summary

Kate is a young schoolteacher working in a small community in Tasmania. She begins an affair with the parent of one of her students. Some chapters tell an alternate version of the same story, a murder investigation written in the style of a children's book.

Reception

The Guardian described it as "a Russian doll of a novel" and praised it as "beguiling",[1] while The New Yorker said it was "suspenseful and self-conscious".[2] The A.V. Club gave a mixed review, stating that the short book is "padded by redundant passages", while saying parts of the book were "vivid and witty".[3]

A Child's Book of True Crime was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2002.[4]

References

  1. ^ Darnell, Lisa (23 February 2002). "Not in front of the kids". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  2. ^ "A Child's Book of True Crime". The New Yorker. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  3. ^ Murray, Noel (3 April 2002). "Chloe Hooper: A Child's Book of True Crime". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ "A Child's Book of True Crime". Women's Prize for Fiction. Retrieved September 6, 2023.