Falling Angels - Hardcover

Chevalier, Tracy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007108257 ISBN 13: 9780007108251

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

Synopsis

A welcome return to the author of the much-loved and admired ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’. poignant tale of two families brought reluctantly together, an intimate story of childhood friendships, sexual awakening and human frailty.

January 1901, the day after Queen Victoria’s death.
Two families visit neighbouring graves in a fashionable London cemetery. One is decorated with a sentimental angel, the other with an elaborate urn. The Waterhouses revere the late Queen and cling to Victorian traditions, while the Colemans look forward to a more modern society. To their mutual distaste, the families are inextricably linked when their daughters become friends behind the tombstones. And worse still, befriend the gravedigger’s muddy son.

As the girls grow up, and the new century finds its feet, as cars replace horses and electricity outshines gas lighting, the nation emerges from the shadows of oppressive Victorian values to a golden Edwardian summer. It is then that the beautiful, frustrated Mrs Coleman makes a greater bid for personal freedom, with disastrous consequences, and the lives of the Colemans and Waterhouses are changed forever.

About this title

About the Author

Tracy Chevalier grew up in Washington DC. In 1994 she graduated from the creative writing course at the University of East Anglia. She lives in London with her husband and young son.

From the Back Cover

Death in 1901, when Tracy Chevalier's new novel opens, required elaborate funeral arrangements, a large array of mourning attire and tombstones which gave ostentatious representation of the family's status. This was even more the case in this year, the year of the Queen's death.

'The angel hung above us, one foot forward, a hand pointing towards heaven. It was wearing a long robe with a square neck, and it had loose hair that flowed onto its wings.'

The two graves stood next to each other the day after Queen Victoria's death. Two families visit neighbouring graves in a fashionable London cemetery. One is decorated with a sentimental angel, the other with an elaborate urn. The Waterhouses revere the late Queen and cling to Victorian traditions, while the Colemans look forward to a more modern society. To their mutual distaste, the families are inextricably linked when their daughters become friends behind the tombstones. And worse still, befriend the gravedigger's muddy son.

As the girls grow up, as the century wears on, as the new era and the new King change social customs, the lives and the fortunes of the Colemans and the Waterhouses become more and more closely intertwined – neighbours in life as well as death.

Another masterful, moving, beautifully written novel by the author of the much loved and admired 'Girl With A Pearl Earring '"A wonderful novel, mysterious, deeply steeped in atmosphere… a truly magical experience."
THE GUARDIAN.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0007108257
• ISBN 13: 9780007108251
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288