Items related to Half of the Human Race
London. In the sweltering summer of 1911, the streets ring to the cheers for a new king's coronation, and to the cries of suffragist women marching for the vote. One of them is twenty-one-year-old Connie Callaway, daughter of a middle-class Islington family fallen on hard times since the death of her father. Forced to abandon her dream of a medical career, Connie is now faced with another hard choice - to maintain lawful protest against an intransigent government or to join the glass-breaking militants in 'the greatest cause the world has ever known'.
Holidaying with her family on the South Coast, Connie is introduced to Will Maitland, cricketer and rising star of his county. Despite their mutual attraction, they part on unfriendly terms, she dismayed by his innate chauvinism, he astonished by her outspokenness. Yet they are destined to meet again, their lives inextricably entangled in the fate of Will's friend and idol Andrew Tamburlain, 'The Great Tam', a former Test batsman whose legendary big hitting was once the toast of the nation.
Duty plays a commanding part in the life of these two young people, whose love for one another, in a different time, might have bound them in matrimony. But Connie, fired up by the possibilities of independence, wants more than the conventional comforts of marriage; and Will, a son of his age and class, is both attracted and appalled by her quest for self-fulfilment. Buffeted and spun by choice and chance, the two remain tied together, even as the outbreak of war drives them further apart.
Combining national drama and private tragedy, Half of The Human Race is a book about men and women and their difficulties in understanding each other at a turning-point in history. It is a deeply affecting story of love, sacrifice, suffrage and county cricket, projected against a vivid backdrop of England in an extraordinary age of turmoil and violence.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
`By jove, it's a corker' --Tatler, January 11, 2011
'Not only is Connie Callaway, one of his two principals, part of the sisterhood of the Suffragette movement, the other, Will Maitland, is a championship cricketer who operates in an all-male sporting environment. To portray two such gender-specific worlds equally convincingly is a tall order, but Quinn carries it off with aplomb. His impeccable eye for detail, perfect pitch for the nuances of dialogue, and the quiet, understated passion that enlivens his writing - all seen to good effect in his debut novel The Rescue Man - combine here to make his considerable achievement seem effortless... There are also vivid descriptions of women's prisons, of the trenches of the First World War, of the sweeping-away of the complacency of the Edwardian age. Quinn's grasp of history is acute, but it is his ambition - and his ability to deliver on it - that impresses most. The Rescue Man won prizes. Half of the Human Race should follow in its footsteps and establish its author as one of our most impressive novelists' --Independent,
'His integration of the historical background into the lives of his protagonists (the suffrage movement, Edwardian professional cricket, the experience of the trenches) is admirably done, with everything stitched into a seamless tapestry. The rhythm of rejection and understanding in Connie and Will's relationship is mapped out with care and precision. The permutations between them and sad, lonely Tam are explored with such exemplary meticulousness that you can't help but be touched' --The Sunday Times,
'This is only Anthony Quinn's second novel, but you would never guess it from the expert way he marshals his material, telling a human story in a literate, intelligent way... If the cricket scenes bring a nostalgic smile to the face, the real guts of the book can be found in the character of Connie. She is sprightly, impulsive, independent-minded... Her passion for justice never stifles her capacity for intellectual self-doubt and emotional tenderness. You really care what happens to her. Half of the Human Race is not just an exhilarating love story, bur a thoughtful, well-crafted novel that can be recommended to lovers of cricket, smoking or Jane Austen - not necessarily in that order' --Daily Telegraph,
'Half of the Human Race is the sort of novel one presses on a friend in a spirit of happy envy, confident of the fictional treat that lies ahead of them' --Evening Standard,
`Captivating, thought-provoking and compelling.' --Easy Living
`This beautifully constructed novel imagines a romance between a cricketer and a suffragette.' --The Observer
`Both as a historical novel and as the story of a love affair Half of the Human Race is a credible and compelling book.'
`Male authors do not always succeed with novels in which the central character is a woman, but Anthony Quinn has portrayed Connie in subtle shades. He is equally convincing with his male character'
`This is a moving and compelling novel that has the potential to become a successful film.'
--TLS,
`excellent and surprising book.'
`A wonderfully rich sense of time and place is evoked.'
`Quinn's subtle historical scene-setting is painterly but never clichéd.'
`The final section of the book covers the war years and it is here that the writing really gathers pace, with Quinn hitting his stride in some truly heart-stopping battle scenes.'
`The oft-described horror of trench warfare is envisioned with a fresh eye and a keen ear for the many different voices thrown together in a fighting company, and at times it is possible to forget that this is fiction rather than a first-hand account.'
`A thoroughly absorbing and moving novel and it is testament to the author's adaptability and energy'
--The Sunday Times
`Few books boast a suffragette heroine and a professional cricket hero but Anthony Quinn's second novel pulls off such a strange pairing because it is old-fashioned in a very good way... Quinn memorably foregrounds the humanity of the characters... in his novel's historical sweep and tells their stories wonderfully' --Metro
Book Description:
'Not only is Connie Callaway, one of his two principals, part of the sisterhood of the Suffragette movement, the other, Will Maitland, is a championship cricketer who operates in an all-male sporting environment. To portray two such gender-specific worlds equally convincingly is a tall order, but Quinn carries it off with aplomb. His impeccable eye for detail, perfect pitch for the nuances of dialogue, and the quiet, understated passion that enlivens his writing - all seen to good effect in his debut novel The Rescue Man - combine here to make his considerable achievement seem effortless... There are also vivid descriptions of women's prisons, of the trenches of the First World War, of the sweeping-away of the complacency of the Edwardian age. Quinn's grasp of history is acute, but it is his ambition - and his ability to deliver on it - that impresses most. The Rescue Man won prizes. Half of the Human Race should follow in its footsteps and establish its author as one of our most impressive novelists' --Independent,
'His integration of the historical background into the lives of his protagonists (the suffrage movement, Edwardian professional cricket, the experience of the trenches) is admirably done, with everything stitched into a seamless tapestry. The rhythm of rejection and understanding in Connie and Will's relationship is mapped out with care and precision. The permutations between them and sad, lonely Tam are explored with such exemplary meticulousness that you can't help but be touched' --The Sunday Times,
'This is only Anthony Quinn's second novel, but you would never guess it from the expert way he marshals his material, telling a human story in a literate, intelligent way... If the cricket scenes bring a nostalgic smile to the face, the real guts of the book can be found in the character of Connie. She is sprightly, impulsive, independent-minded... Her passion for justice never stifles her capacity for intellectual self-doubt and emotional tenderness. You really care what happens to her. Half of the Human Race is not just an exhilarating love story, bur a thoughtful, well-crafted novel that can be recommended to lovers of cricket, smoking or Jane Austen - not necessarily in that order' --Daily Telegraph,
'Half of the Human Race is the sort of novel one presses on a friend in a spirit of happy envy, confident of the fictional treat that lies ahead of them' --Evening Standard,
`Captivating, thought-provoking and compelling.' --Easy Living
`This beautifully constructed novel imagines a romance between a cricketer and a suffragette.' --The Observer
`Both as a historical novel and as the story of a love affair Half of the Human Race is a credible and compelling book.'
`Male authors do not always succeed with novels in which the central character is a woman, but Anthony Quinn has portrayed Connie in subtle shades. He is equally convincing with his male character'
`This is a moving and compelling novel that has the potential to become a successful film.'
--TLS,
`excellent and surprising book.'
`A wonderfully rich sense of time and place is evoked.'
`Quinn's subtle historical scene-setting is painterly but never clichéd.'
`The final section of the book covers the war years and it is here that the writing really gathers pace, with Quinn hitting his stride in some truly heart-stopping battle scenes.'
`The oft-described horror of trench warfare is envisioned with a fresh eye and a keen ear for the many different voices thrown together in a fighting company, and at times it is possible to forget that this is fiction rather than a first-hand account.'
`A thoroughly absorbing and moving novel and it is testament to the author's adaptability and energy'
--The Sunday Times
`Few books boast a suffragette heroine and a professional cricket hero but Anthony Quinn's second novel pulls off such a strange pairing because it is old-fashioned in a very good way... Quinn memorably foregrounds the humanity of the characters... in his novel's historical sweep and tells their stories wonderfully' --Metro
A captivating and engrossing new novel on the Suffragette movement, county cricket and the First World War by the prize-winning Anthony Quinn.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherJonathan Cape
- Publication date2011
- ISBN 10 0224087290
- ISBN 13 9780224087292
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages368
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Half of the Human Race
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(2011)
ISBN 10: 0224087290
ISBN 13: 9780224087292
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