Salamander - Hardcover

Wharton, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007128649 ISBN 13: 9780007128648

Publisher: Flamingo, 2002

Synopsis

A spectacularly readable, intelligent entertainment.

The year is 1717. Stung by the mysterious death of his only son, Count Ostrov renounces army life and retires to his remote island retreat. There, in mourning, he loses himself in his love of puzzles, turning the very fabric of his spectacular Slav castle into a giant, mechanical conundrum of revolving doors, moving floors and unstable staircases.

The Count brings to this impossible castle the legendary English printer Nicholas Flood, and charges him with the task of producing a book without beginning or end. But no sooner has Flood set about his quest than he meets the Count's beautiful, brilliant and yet somehow damaged daughter, Irena. In the shadows cast by the wheels and cogs of the clockwork castle, Flood finds himself distracted from the task in hand, and instead begins work on another book entirely, a secret gift for a secret lover – a tiny octavo volume with one word, Desire, gold-tooled on its spine...

About this title

Review:

‘Everyday things blossom with wonder in Thomas Wharton's Salamander... a vigorous, imaginative novel about the power of reading and invention. Each of the criss-crossing storylines is a cinematic epic on its own.' Quill & Quire

from the reviews for Icefields:

‘Wharton’s touch is sure and light, yet capable of wide effect. Icefields is a novel of crystalline beauty from a writer to watch.’ Ronald Wright, TLS

‘Wharton’s crisp prose transports you to the edge of the glacier... This is a clean, pensive book that inspires contemplation of one’s own visions.’ Time Out

'Movingly portrayed... subtle and satisfying' Dilys Rose, Scotsman

‘Wharton's poetic passages betray a slow flame beneath the cool prose, a raw intense curiosity which fascinates and lays everything bare.' Ottawa Citizen

‘Wharton writes with a prose style as clear as glacial waters, tempered with brilliant imagery and lucid dialogue.' Calgary Herald

'In this novel about dreams, stories, journeys and the hypnotic power of the landscape, the prose is clear and poetic, the structure careful and the whole coolly accomplished.' Christina Patterson, Observer

'A crystalline novel imbued with the mystery of the wild north. Wharton's precise language, clear as the air of the Rockies, brings this coldly seductive landscape to life.' Erica Wagner, The Times

'Wharton layers his novel like the strata of the glacier: voices, modern and mythical, oral and written, real and dream, ring true and clear. The clean, concise purity of the prose brilliantly refracts the complex, multifaceted style of the narrative.' Iain Finlayson, Financial Times

From the Publisher:

Praise for Thomas Wharton:
‘Everyday things blossom with wonder in Thomas Wharton’s 'Salamander'... a vigorous, imaginative novel about the power of reading and invention. Each of the criss-crossing storylines is a cinematic epic on its own.’ Quill & Quire

‘Wharton’s poetic passages betray a slow flame beneath the cool prose, a raw intense curiosity which fascinates and lays everything bare.’ Ottawa Citizen

‘Wharton writes with a prose style as clear as glacial waters, tempered with brilliant imagery and lucid dialogue.’ Calgary Herald

About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0007128649
• ISBN 13: 9780007128648
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384