Strings Attached

Strings Attached is a 1999 novel by Gay Walley. It is the author's first novel. It was published by University Press of Mississippi. The book was a finalist for the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Prize.^[1]

The New York Times Book Review said the book's non-linear narrative "offers possibilities for the evocation of a ravaged psyche, yet in this novel the result is an almost complete lack of narrative tension. The sequencing reflects neither chronology nor emotional logic".^[2] Library Journal said it possessed "memorable style and strong character development [that] weave a heartfelt story that will be remembered by all readers".^[1] Booklist said it is a "curious book to read – satisfying, certainly, for the evocative quality of the writing but unsatisfying in what is left out of the story. However, this book is well worth reading".^[3]

Publishers Weekly found it "heavy-handed" whereas Kirkus Reviews said it was "intelligent and uncommonly sensitive".^[4][5]

• "Strings Attached", Publishers Weekly (book review), November 1999
• "Strings Attached", Kirkus Reviews (book review), September 15, 1999
• Diehl, Margaret (November 14, 1999), "Drinking Buddy: In a first novel a woman recalls her alcoholic father and how she grew up to be like him.", The New York Times Book Review, p. 37
• Berona, David A. (October 15, 1999), "Strings Attached", Library Journal (book review), vol. 124, no. 17, p. 109
• Hoover, Danise (November 15, 1999), "Strings Attached", Booklist (book review), vol. 96, no. 6, p. 606