Paradise - Hardcover

Kennedy, A.L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224062581 ISBN 13: 9780224062589

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

A near fine copy, in original boards and pictorial dustjacet, with some bumping to upper edge, otherwise clean and tight. Mylar cover for protection and preservation. Synopsis: Hannah Luckraft knows the taste of paradise. It's hidden in the peace of open country, it's sweet on her lover's skin, it flavours every drink she's ever taken, but it never seems to stay. Almost forty and with nothing to show for it, even Hannah is starting to notice that her lifestyle is not entirely sustainable: her subconscious is turning against her and it may be that her soul is a little unwell. Her family is wounded, her friends are frankly odd, her body is not as reliable as it once was. Robert, a dissolute dentist, appears to offer a love she can understand, but he may only be one more symptom of the problem she must cure. From the north-east of Scotland to Dublin, from London to Montreal, to Budapest and onwards, Hannah travels beyond her limits, beyond herself, in search of the ultimate altered state: the one where she can be happy - her paradise. Incapable of writing a dull sentence, or failing to balance the grim with the hilarious, the tender with the shocking, A.L. Kennedy has written an emotional and visceral tour-de-force. A compelling examination of failure that is also a comic triumph, a novel of dark extremes that is full of the most ravishing lyrical beauty, Pa About the Author: A.L. Kennedy has published three previous novels, two books of non-fiction, and three collections of stories, most recently Indelible Acts in 2002. She lives in Glasgow.

About this title

Product Description:

Hannah Luckraft knows the taste of paradise. It's hidden in the peace of open country, it's sweet on her lover's skin, it flavours every drink she's ever taken, but it never seems to stay. Almost forty and with nothing to show for it, even Hannah is starting to notice that her lifestyle is not entirely sustainable: her subconscious is turning against her and it may be that her soul is a little unwell. Her family is wounded, her friends are frankly odd, her body is not as reliable as it once was. Robert, a dissolute dentist, appears to offer a love she can understand, but he may only be one more symptom of the problem she must cure. From the north-east of Scotland to Dublin, from London to Montreal, to Budapest and onwards, Hannah travels beyond her limits, beyond herself, in search of the ultimate altered state: the one where she can be happy - her paradise. Incapable of writing a dull sentence, or failing to balance the grim with the hilarious, the tender with the shocking, A.L. Kennedy has written an emotional and visceral tour-de-force. A compelling examination of failure that is also a comic triumph, a novel of dark extremes that is full of the most ravishing lyrical beauty, Pa

Review:

"A brave and uncompromising book that lingers in the mind, Paradise is A.L. Kennedy on top form" (Independent)

"This is a narrative that will not let the reader go - One of the most linguistically inventive and captivating British writers of the age" (Observer)

"The book sings its encapsulated pain with the effervescent energy of laughter" (The Times)

"Beautifully written...Her sharpest vision yet" (Guardian)

"One of Britain's most iconoclastic and fiercely independent talents, a writer who repeatedly tests our expectations... Compelling, even consuming" (Daily Telegraph)

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0224062581
• ISBN 13: 9780224062589
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352