Foe - Softcover

Coetzee, J M

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014029953X ISBN 13: 9780140299533

Publisher: Penguin, 2001

Synopsis

Susan Barton finds herself marooned on an island in the Atlantic with an Englishman named Robinson Cruso and his mute slave Friday. Rescued after a year of Cruso's company, back in England with Friday in tow, she approaches the author Daniel Foe, offering him the story of the island if he will make her rich and famous. But Foe is less interested in the history of Robinson Cruso than in the story of Susan Barton. How did she earn a living in Brazil? Who were the mutineers who marooned her? Where is the daughter for whom she claimes to have been searching the ends of the earth? And how did Friday lose his tongue?

About this title

Review:

A small miracle of a book...of marvellous intricacy and overwhelming power (Washington Post)

A finely honed testament to its author's intelligence, imagination and skill (The New York Times)

From the Back Cover:

'At last I could row no further. My hands were blistered, my back was burned, my body ached. With a sigh, making barely a splash, I slipped overboard . . .'

In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton is washed ashore on a remote desert island. There she encounters a man named Cruso and his silent servant, Friday. Far from civilization, she has no choice but to join these castaways - until the day a passing ship offers the chance of rescue.

On arriving in London, Susan decides to tell her story and seeks help from the well-known author Daniel Foe. But, as a writer, Foe seeks not to tell the truth as Susan remembers it but instead to produce a grand narrative that will outlive its age - one Susan cannot recognize . . .

'A small miracle of a book' Washington Post

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 014029953X
• ISBN 13: 9780140299533
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160