Cloud Atlas is an important novel, not just for David Mitchell's dazzling prose, or complex literary scaffolding, or even for his keen ability for characterization. This novel will earn its literary legacy for the significance of its subject matter.

Cloud Atlas takes the premise of many Booker Prize-nominated Moral Indignation Novels (or MINs), and twists it into something compelling and altogether new. Instead of basing his novel purely on the atrocities inflicted on indigenous peoples by colonizing empires, Mitchell follows the thread of these atrocities from the middle of the nineteenth-century through the resulting apocalyptic future.

As each strand of narrative is woven, Mitchell examines the effects of colonization, technocracy, and suppression of native peoples in subsequent futures of world history. With each level of this literary Russian nesting doll, the reader sees the ruinous footprints and scars of previous decades. Reaching the core of the narrative strands, the reader experiences an almost visceral understanding of how humans might end up living in a world in which we've steadily but surely concocted our own demise. Each disgraceful past is a layer to peel back, revealing a dystopian, rotting core. Mitchell demonstrates how our technological drive and social immaturity will impact virtual futures with eerie credibility.

Cloud Atlas is a masterpiece of literary skill and social significance, written by one of the most accomplished writers in contemporary British fiction. TurboBookSnob would not be surprised to find this novel on future college reading lists, studied as one of the best novels in early 21st century fiction.

The Master
by Colm Toibin

There is a certain passivity to The Master, however it delivers a measured and controlled tone throughout the prose that mirrors the painful formality with which Henry James holds his entire life in check. The reader easily imagines the emptiness of James' life as he circles around his unresolved sexual feelings, drawing near at times, but never actually naming his desires, much less fulfilling them. This makes it all the more poignant, as James dedicates his life to "mastering" the intricacies of the human heart, unfolding tales of love and intimacy that he himself can never know.

Colm Toibin paints a touching and believable portrait of Henry James, demonstrating the elegant prose that placed him on the Booker Prize shortlist for The Blackwater Lightship in 1999.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
by Elizabeth Taylor

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a small gem of a book. Taylor's writing is reminiscent of Penelope Fitzgerald, who was a master at writing small, perfect gems herself.

Mrs. Palfrey settles into the Claremont Hotel to while away her old age, where she meets an extraordinary assortment of fellow retirees. Instead of falling into the expected pattern, Mrs. Palfrey falls literally into the arms of young Ludo, a handsome writer who helps her after she passes out on the street in front of his flat. Falling inappropriately in love with Ludo, Mrs. Palfrey discovers a reason for living that extends beyond merely managing her boredom and health problems.

"As she waited for prunes, Mrs. Palfrey considered the day ahead. The morning was to be filled in quite nicely, but the afternoon and evening made a long stretch. I must not wish my life away, she told herself, but she knew that, as she got older, she looked at her watch more often, and that it was always earlier than she had thought it would be. When she was young, it had always been later."

Taylor perfectly captures what it must be like to grow old alone, measuring out minute by maddeningly monotonous minute.

Lighthousekeeping
by Jeanette Winterson

What can I say about Jeanette Winterson? Her work demands a new superlative; to call it unique does not even begin to capture its essence. A unique writer reaches for the stars; Jeanette Winterson effortlessly plays among comets and galaxies, putting words together into sentences that mere mortals dare not dream of. She is quirky, imaginative, and poetic. Her work is rooted in the enchantment of fairy tales, the fabulism of Italo Calvino, and the androgynous beauty of Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

Lighthousekeeping is a superb addition to Winterson's body of work. When Silver's mother dies, she is taken in by Mr. Pew and apprenticed to him in the keeping of the town's lighthouse. Pew tells Silver stories of love and longing, rebirth and regret. The tale of Babel Dark appeals particularly to Silver, who grows up learning about his life, or more precisely, his lives.

"A child born of chance might imagine that chance was its father, in the way that gods fathered children and then abandoned them, without a backward glance, but with one small gift. I wondered if a gift had been left for me. I had no idea where to look, or what I was looking for, but I know now that all important journeys start that way."

Winterson writes beautifully. There is, perhaps, only one flaw in this otherwise perfect book. At the midpoint of the book, Winterson shifts her perspective, and begins to weave in Silver's present with her past and that of Babel Dark's. The transition is awkward, and changes the mood of ominous enchantment that otherwise pervades the novel.

Winterson deserves a place on the Booker shortlist for this novel. She is a rare treasure in British literature, although whether this is her year remains to be seen.