Something Beginning With (Library of Lost Books) - Softcover

Salway, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007368399 ISBN 13: 9780007368396

Publisher: The Friday Project, 2010

Synopsis

One of the great hidden gems of the past decade.

Written in brief entries from ‘Ambition’ to ‘Zzzzz’ Salway's confident debut novel chronicles the existential ups and downs of British 20-something Verity Bell.

The alphabetically arranged mini-chapters make for an inventive and episodic narrative, as Verity muses on her career (A is for Attitude: "I work as a secretary in the media... something I don't always talk about because some people seem to think I'm showing off"), her friendship with the fabulous Sally (B is for Best Friends: "my best friend, Sally, has become the mistress of a millionaire called Colin"), her feelings on Gwyneth Paltrow (G is for You-Know-Who: "If I looked like Gwyneth Paltrow, nothing could possibly go wrong in my life") and other issues of love, friendship and family.

With both parents deceased, Verity clings to Sally as a sort of substitute family, but struggles with her insecurities and her envy of Sally's ‘perfect’ existence. She falls madly in love with a married man but, unsurprisingly, their steamy affair is not the solution to Verity's problems; rather, it exacerbates her self-doubt as she plays second fiddle to the wife and children.

Ultimately, Verity's life takes an unexpected turn, and she emerges a stronger and more creative woman. Salway wraps her bright, comic writing in bite-sized chunks that make this first novel an easy-reading pleasure.

First published in 2004 to considerable critical acclaim - Neil Gaiman called Sarah ‘an astonishingly smart writer’ and Sainsbury’s magazine hailed the book as ‘a Bridget Jones for our times’ - Something Beginning With became a cult classic. By which we mean a book that didn’t sell a huge amount but nearly everyone who did buy it loved it.

We are delighted to be able to include Something Beginning With as one of the launch titles for The Library of Lost Books. Sarah has a considerable online following and her debut novel has been unavailable for some time.

About this title

Review:

· ‘Sarah Salway is an astonishingly smart writer. Her fiction is always beautifully structured, touching and clever – she manages the trick of making people that you care about in stories you admire. I can't wait to see what she does next.’ Neil Gaiman
· 'Both hilarious and heart-warming - and it's transformed into something even more original and captivating by the novel's unlikely obsession with the alphabet' Red Magazine
· 'Verity Bell is a very odd young woman, and this delightfully original novel catalogues her worries and weird flight of fancy ... Charming and darkly funny' Marie Claire
· 'An innocent eccentric, Verity is an engaging narrator, and this is a charming, sweet and strange book' Image
· 'Verity Bell is a Bridget Jones for our times ... Salway's skill lies in artfully crafting the fragments into an intricate portrait of Verity and her life. A real treat' Sainsbury's Magazine

About the Author:

Sarah Salway lives in Kent and London. She is currently the RLF Fellow at the London School of Economics.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Friday Project
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0007368399
• ISBN 13: 9780007368396
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192