“… a book I found easy to read, easy to take big gulps of, so to speak, a story and a life that really grabbed attention, told with great verve and compelling attention tuition from the reader. Truly a magnificent read and I book that I think I’ll go back to, one with a great deal more to give on rereading.” – David Harris, Blue Book Balloon
“One of the many things I loved about this novel, is that we are never really able to say that we absolutely know the Stubborn Archivist, because what we learn is what she has allowed us to read. That really resonated with me – how often have we kept things hidden, behaved one way with a certain group of friends, and another with someone else. Personal history is always going to be subjective, and that is what makes this novel so relatable – whether we realise it or not, we are the Stubborn Archivists of our histories.” – Clare Reynolds, Years of Reading Selfishly
“Stubborn Archivist is a complex and intriguing read that held me spellbound even as it confused and beguiled me. I loved the title. With little conventional fictional plot, the narrative is, to some degree, an archive of one person’s life and whilst they have both British and Brazilian heritage, they have to cling stubbornly to their own sense of self and identity. I’m writing so generically about ‘they’ because other than being referred to frequently as the baby, the name of the woman is elusive, reflecting the looseness of her identity and her difficulty in defining herself and where she belongs.” – Linda Hill, Linda’s Book Bag
“Stubborn Archivist often plays with the concept of storytelling. I enjoyed reading the stories that our narrator is told by the older females in her family, raising questions about how we explain things to children through exaggerated narratives. I noted that female relationships are explored in particular detail, especially in the sisterly bond between the narrator’s mum and aunty.” – Phoebe Williams, The Brixton Bookworm