The Rain Before it Falls: Jonathan Coe - Softcover

Coe, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241967759 ISBN 13: 9780241967751

Publisher: Penguin, 2014

Synopsis

The Rain Before it Falls - Jonathan Coe's heartbreaking novel of family secrets

Deeply moving and compelling, The Rain Before it Falls is the story of three generations of one family riven by tragedy. When Rosamund, a reluctant bearer of family secrets, dies suddenly, a mystery is left for her niece Gill to unravel. Some photograph albums and tapes point towards a blind girl named Imogen whom no one has seen in twenty years. The search for Imogen and the truth of her inheritance becomes a shocking story of mothers and daughters and of how sadness, like a musical refrain, may haunt us down the years.

'Spectacular, heartbreaking, beautifully written. Rosamund's story is one of the most extraordinary and compelling you will ever read. Impossible to put down, I loved every minute of it' Sunday Express

'A sad, often very moving story of mothers and daughters' Guardian

'Entirely compelling...the plot will keep you rapt...reminiscent of Ian McEwan at his most effective' New Statesman

Jonathan Coe's novels are filled with moving, astute observations of life and love, and are written with a revealing honesty that has captivated a generation of readers. His other titles, The Accidental Woman, The Rotters' Club (winner of the Everyman Wodehouse prize), The Closed Circle, The Dwarves of Death, The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim, The House of Sleep (winner of the 1998 Prix Médicis Étranger), A Touch of Love, and What a Carve Up! (winner of the 1995 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), are all available in Penguin paperback.

About this title

Review:

"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." -Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World"
"A triumph...from it's cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --Timothy Peters, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer"
"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --"The Atlantic Monthly"
"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --"The New Yorker
"
"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe"
"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, "New York Observer"
"Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --Anna Mundow, "The Boston Globe
"
"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement," This brief novel makes an emotionally overwhelming case that within ordinary women's lives there are profound reserves of beauty and despair, crumbled hopes and the purest love." --Kyle Smith," People"
"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --"Publishers Weekly"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." -James Urquhart, "Financial Times"
"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." -Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World"
"A triumph...from it's cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --Timothy Peters, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer"
"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --"The Atlantic Monthly"
"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --"The New Yorker
"
"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe"
"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, "New York Observer"
"Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --Anna Mundow, "The Boston Globe
"
"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement," This brief novel makes an emotionally overwhelming case that within ordinary women's lives there are profound reserves of beauty anddespair, crumbled hopes and the purest love." --Kyle Smith," People"
"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --"Publishers Weekly"

"From the Hardcover edition."

A triumph . . . from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion. "San Francisco Chronicle" Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement" . Emotionally overwhelming. "People" Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels. "The Boston Globe" A gripping family drama worthy of Alice Munro. "Time Out New York ""A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." James Urquhart, "Financial Times""Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World" A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare Absorbing, graceful and melancholy. Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer" Dignified and sure Skillfully layered and plotted. "The Atlantic Monthly" A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters. "The New Yorker" Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking [Coe s] tensest and most affecting work. Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe" Jonathan Coe s small masterpiece. Regina Marler, "New York Observer" Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn t let go until the very end. "Publishers Weekly""

"A triumph . . . from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --San Francisco Chronicle"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's Atonement.... Emotionally overwhelming." --People "Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, [The Rain Before It Falls] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --The Boston Globe"A gripping family drama worthy of Alice Munro." --Time Out New York "A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." --James Urquhart, Financial Times"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether The Rain Before It Falls is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." --Frances Taliaferro, The Washington Post Book World"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland Plain-Dealer"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --The Atlantic Monthly"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --The New Yorker"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, The Boston Globe"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, New York Observer"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author:

Jonathan Coe is the author of thirteen novels, all published by Penguin, which include the highly acclaimed bestsellers What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep,The Rotters' Club, Number 11 and Middle England. He is also the author of a biography of B.S Johnson, Like a Fiery Elephant, and The Broken Mirror, a children's book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0241967759
• ISBN 13: 9780241967751
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288