Eleanor Catton Q & A

       Liam O'Brien has a Q & A in The Independent with The Rehearsal-author Eleanor Catton, now Man Booker-longlisted for her The Luminaries (not yet out in the US),
       Among the interesting (if perhaps sadly predictable) observations:

With my first novel, The Rehearsal, it dealt with teenage sexuality and homosexuality. The reception was very different in different countries. The UK was comfortable with those aspects of it, but the US was not.

       Meanwhile, among the reviews of The Luminaries, there's now one up at the Financial Times by another great New Zealand author, C.K.Stead. He isn't entirely won over:

I finished the novel acknowledging enormous talent but feeling the demands made on time and attention offered insufficient human or intellectual return.

       But I'm still looking forward to this.
       See also the publicity pages at Granta and Little, Brown, or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com or get it at Amazon.co.uk.