Courting Shadows - Hardcover

Poster, Jem

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340822570 ISBN 13: 9780340822579

Publisher: Sceptre, 2002

Synopsis

In the winter of 1881 John Stannard, a young architect, is in self-imposed exile in a remote English village, carrying out repairs to the parish church. Arrogant and insensitive to what he considers superstition and sentimental attachment to the past, he soon begins to inflict serious damage on the ancient building as well as on those with whom he comes into contact - most notably the beautiful ambitious young local girl Ann Rosewell.

This is the mesmerising tale of a man who clings ferociously to his warped notion of civilised behaviour, unwilling to admit his need for love. Set in a vividly evoked landscape and taut with foreboding, Jem Poster's striking first novel pits reason against emotion, progress against preservation, and explores our capacity for invention and self-delusion - the stories we tell each other and the stories we tell ourselves.

About this title

About the Author

Jem Poster has worked as an archaeologist and is now a University Lecturer in Literature at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education. Since 1998 he has also been Director of the department's Diploma in Creative Writing.

His poetry has won awards in major competitions and he is the author of a selection of George Crabbe's poetry, a study of the poetry of the 1930s, and articles on modern poetry and fiction. His first full-length poetry collection, Brought to Light, was published by Bloodaxe in 2001. Courting Shadows is his first novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Sceptre
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0340822570
• ISBN 13: 9780340822579
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288