Praise for Handpicked
"A bold new novel..."
Eloise Oxer
Memorable TV
"...beautifully told..."
Bev Blaauw
Cairns Eye, 13 May 2009
"...commands the reader's attention."
Lorien Kaye
The Age, 9 May 2009
"...masterfully weaves in issues of racism, multiculturalism and assimilation, and the value of actions over words, and what happens when expectation and reality don’t quite see eye to eye."
Lucy Clark
Sydney Sunday Telegraph (PDF 1mb), 26 April 2009
Perth Now, 1 May 2009
Perth Sunday Times, 3 May 2009
"...explores a difficult process with great empathy..."
Sunday Mail Brisbane, 26 April 2009
"...assured and interesting."
"In a literary landscape where debut novels come thick and fast, it is often difficult to stand out from the crowd, but Tay's novel is, for the most part, both assured and interesting."
Heidi Maier, 18 April 2009
Courier Mail
"Jim and Laila’s story is one that touches the heart... a pleasurable read for anyone looking for a love story with depth and substance."
Susan Whelan, 6 April 2009
Australian Literature, Suite101.com
Reading Upside Down
"This story of a marriage is one that needs to be told, with its universal themes of transplantation and adaptation."
Good Reading Magazine
"The characters are this novel's strongest point; it's a simply told story but it captures the complexity of human motivation and self-delusion very well."
Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 2009
"Engrossing... the struggle on both sides to leap the yawning gulf between them is poignant and inevitable."
Mary Vernon, Townsville Bulletin, 18 April 2009
"The characters are expertly drawn... adept at conveying Laila's unbelievable gullibility and Jim's acute loneliness."
Sydney Sun Herald, 12 April 2009
"...unwraps the immigrant bride experience in a way I have never experienced..."
Lachlan Jobbins, April 2009
Bookseller & Publisher
"...Handpicked is a well-crafted, touching and intelligent novel..."
Gillian Dooley, Flinders University, 5 March 2009
Writers Radio, Radio Adelaide
"...a well-crafted first novel..."
Katherine England
Adelaide Advertiser, 28 March 2009
"...original, fast-paced and gripping..."
"Handpicked is original, fast-paced and gripping, engendering
sympathy for each of its mismatched
protagonists. Its absorbing story is a realistic look at the hazards of
romance and a cautionary look
at victims of abuse. Hard to put down, it is even harder to forget."
Janet Brown, 'thingsasian'
website