If

problematizes its own narrative trajectory,

is an exploded text. Michèle Roberts' fourth novel is fragmentary and allusive – a literary Flood – containing a multiplicity of narratives and references to other works, most notably the Old Testament. The novel begins in Venice, employing that city as a route to many watery metaphors and fabulous scenarios. Any reader expecting a continuous, realist narrative will be sorely disappointed, as

plays with generic forms, dabbling in magical realism, biblical fables, biography and autobiography. The central narrative, although it relinquishes all authority in its playful relationship to the truth, is the tale of Mrs Noah, a woman who has come to Venice with her academic husband. One…

2038 words

Citation: White, Rosemary. "The Book of Mrs Noah". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10198, accessed 27 November 2024.]