The Accidental: A novel - Hardcover

Smith, Ali

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375422250 ISBN 13: 9780375422256

Publisher: Pantheon, 2006

Synopsis

Talking her way into the Norfolk cottage that the Smart family is renting for the summer, Amber, an enigmatic, lying con artist insinuates herself into the lives of Eve, her husband Michael, and their children, forcing them to reexamine the events of their lives through her perceptions and forever altering the world around them. 50,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

from the United Kingdom:
"An outstanding novel . . . Exuberantly inventive . . . Beautifully formed and astringently intelligent . . . It is as good as anyone who has been watching the progress of this talented author could possibly have hoped."
-"The Sunday Times"
"Funny, sexy, poignant, surprising, playful . . . Although the novel dazzles with the richness of language and ideas, it retains a delicious lightness."
-"The Observer"
"Spectacular . . . Allusive, ambitious and formally acrobatic . . . Original, restless, formally and morally challenging, [Ali Smith] remains a writer who resists definition."
-"The Times Literary Supplement"
"Amazing . . . Dazzling . . . Smith is one of our greatest imaginative writers."
-"The Scotsman"
"Joyous . . . Smith plays dizzying games with her story and language; she bends and buckles her prose, breathes fire into it, lets it cool, swirls it up in unimaginable shapes. This is writing as pure rapture, as giddy delight."
-"The Times"

"From the Hardcover edition."

" Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy." - "The New York Times"
" Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell." -- "The Atlantic Monthly"
" Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely." -- "The Boston Globe"
" Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful."
-- "The New York Observer"
" Brims with wit, humor, and energy." -- "The Christian Science Monitor"

"Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy." -"The New York Times""Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell." --"The Atlantic Monthly""Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely." --"The Boston Globe""Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful." --"The New York Observer""Brims with wit, humor, and energy." --"The Christian Science Monitor"

"Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy." -"The New York Times"

"Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell." --"The Atlantic Monthly"

"Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely." --"The Boston Globe"

"Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful."

--"The New York Observer"

"Brims with wit, humor, and energy." --"The Christian Science Monitor"

Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy. "The New York Times"

Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell. "The Atlantic Monthly"

Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely. "The Boston Globe"

Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful.

"The New York Observer"

Brims with wit, humor, and energy. "The Christian Science Monitor""

Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy. The New York Times

Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell. The Atlantic Monthly

Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely. The Boston Globe

Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful.

The New York Observer

Brims with wit, humor, and energy. The Christian Science Monitor

"

"Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy." -The New York Times

"Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell." --The Atlantic Monthly

"Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely." --The Boston Globe

"Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful."

--The New York Observer

"Brims with wit, humor, and energy." --The Christian Science Monitor

-Astonishing. . . . Vivid and affecting. . . . Wonderfully supple, jazzy.- -The New York Times

-Persistently sparkling pages...of startling and clarifying emotional power. . . . It casts a spell.- --The Atlantic Monthly

-Completely captivating. . . . Thoroughly charming and melodic. . . .Devilishly lovely.- --The Boston Globe

-Beautifully executed. . . . A few pages [in] and you begin to remember how much fun it is to put yourself in the hands of a skilled, majestically confident writer. . . . Delightful.-

--The New York Observer

-Brims with wit, humor, and energy.- --The Christian Science Monitor

About the Author:

Ali Smith is the author of six works of fiction, including the novel Hotel World, which was short–listed for both the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize in 2001 and won the Encore Award and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award in 2002. Her story collections include Free Love, which won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book Award and a Scottish Arts Council Award, and The Whole Story and Other Stories. Born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1962, Smith now lives in Cambridge, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0375422250
• ISBN 13: 9780375422256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320