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reviews

Shame Heirs

Anna Ilyina
Olympia Publishers (2011)
ISBN 9781848971189
Reviewed by Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads (07/11)

When I first received “Shame Heirs” to review the very first thing that struck me was the cover picture.  The little girl on the front cover made the book very intriguing to me.  If I were walking through a book store I would definitely be enticed to pick up this book to see what it was about.

The contents of the book were different than what I expected, but in a good way.  Here is a brief excerpt to give you an example of Ilyina’s writing style:  “…We’re extremely tired of our incomprehension that we ourselves doom us to painful weariness.  Our souls change their properties because of tension and deformations, repeating this cyclically.  Our souls have lost their stamina.  Our souls have been deformed to such a degree they’re deformed now even without the external influence.  Our souls became self-adjusting to certain algorithms of existence…” (p. 124) Paragraphs such as this one throughout “Shame Heirs” really make the reader stop and ponder what the characters’ lives are like.

The novel was very philosophical and thought-provoking.  It was quite interesting to see inside the thoughts of the main characters and realize that all of the people in the book are not really who they appear to be on the outside.  The characters harbor much hatred and scorn. 

One detail I found unusual was that the individuals in the book go by descriptive names such as “Neighbour’s Boy,” “Girl,” “Madam,” and “Monsieur.”  Choosing not to use names was a unique touch.  If you are looking for an intelligently written, philosophical book, then I recommend giving “Shame Heirs” a try.  Iyina’s work proves to be quite a unique read.

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