Aliefka

Kathleen Jones says: “The author explores the physiology and psychology of ME with great insight. Leandra is being destroyed by it. But she is determined to regain her health and get her life back. Her long sojourn in solitude forces her to think very deeply about her life and her career and what kind of future she wants to have.
The novel is very, very well written – a wonderful exploration of the relationships between five people – Melchior, Leandra, Tygo, Nikki and Mercy. The book touches on some interesting subjects and makes the reader think about a lot of different issues. There is more than one type of colonialisation – and what exactly is national identity? To what extent are we the product of our childhoods? How are the mind and body interlinked?”
Read more: here

Scott Pack says: “The Consul General’s Wife is a bleak, but often funny, account of one man’s decline. Melchior is proud, an arrogant man who doesn’t take kindly to this young upstart from back home. He has his eyes on the vacant ambassador’s job in Paris and won’t let anything stand in his way. Unfortunately for him, lots of things, including his sick wife, are doing just that.
If you like a bit of redemption in your novels then this may not be for you. It really is quite dark. This is a hard trick to pull off but I reckon the author cracks it. It is uncomfortable reading at times, but also quite captivating. I was reminded of Borgen in places because of the look inside the home lives of political individuals, but most of all of Thomas Kennedy’s Falling Sideways which I read earlier in the year.”
Read more here

Emma Garman says: “The sad and tragi-comic tale of an aging diplomat and his downfall, which reverberates through the lives of those around him, The Consul General’s Wife is an astute portrait of universal human foibles, set against the intriguingly unfamiliar backdrop of modern Embassy life.”
Garman asks about how Aliefka researched The Consul General’s Wife, about the Dutch history in Brazil, and about being a diplomat’s daughter.
Read the full interview: here

Listen here, (the interview starts after approx. 4 mins)