Hydra (novel)

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Hydra
Hydra book cover.jpg
AuthorAdriane Howell
GenreFiction
Publisher Transit Lounge
Publication date
1 August 2022
Publication placeAustralia
Pages256
ISBN 978-1-925760-98-9

Hydra is a 2022 novel by Adriane Howell. [1] The novel follows an antiques buyer named Anja who returns from the Greek island of Hydra, and whose behaviour slowly becomes increasingly irrational and erratic over the course of the novel. The book was described by reviewers as a "superbly creepy" novel with a "gothic streak". [2] Hydra was shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize, where the judging panel wrote that it was "a truly weird and awe-some book in the best sense of those words, with an eccentricity that is never posturing or forced". [3]

Contents

Reception

Hydra received somewhat mixed reviews. A review in The Guardian said the novel had a "delicate atmosphere of jangle and paranoia" and praised its "frenzied" finale. [2] Oliver Reeson gave a critical review of the book in the Sydney Review of Books , writing that what Hydra suffered from most was that its main character Anja "does very little except act weird and paranoid while not much really goes on around her". He concluded that while the book was "full of rich and affecting moments", its main character was so unlikeable and uncompelling that the novel fell flat. [4] The book received a more positive review in the Canberra Times , where Jasper Lindell wrote that the book led the reader "on a path clear enough to follow and complex enough to make the following of it worthwhile". [5] In The Conversation , Sally Breen wrote that the novel was "never dull", but that its ending contained too many implausible leaps. [6]

Awards

Awards for Hydra
YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2024 South Australian Literary Awards Fiction AwardShortlisted [7]
2023 Stella Prize —Shortlisted [3]
Readings Prize New Australian Fiction PrizeShortlisted [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Hydra". Transit Lounge. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 Dewey, Imogen (25 August 2022). "Hydra by Adriane Howell review – weird woman adrift in a big cat mystery". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Adriane Howell – Hydra". Stella Prize. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  4. ↑ Reeson, Oliver (14 May 2023). "Seeking Derangement". Sydney Review of Books. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Lindell, Jasper (12 August 2022). "Experience and myth mix in a haze of uncertainty". Canberra Times. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  6. ↑ Breen, Sally (23 October 2022). "Damsels in distress: two new Australian novels fail to achieve their literary ambitions". The Conversation. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Shortlist announced for 2024 South Australian Literary Awards". State Library of South Australia. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  8. ↑ "The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize shortlist 2023". Readings. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
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