A Distant Shore - Hardcover

Phillips, Caryl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0436205645 ISBN 13: 9780436205644

Publisher: Secker, 2003

Synopsis

The English village is a place where people come to lick their wounds. Dorothy has walked away from a bad thirty-year marriage, an affair gone sour and a dangerous obsession. Unable to cope with the change from the civility of life as a teacher in a grammar school to the democratic brutishness of a comprehensive, she has taken early retirement. Between her visits to the doctor and the music lessons she gives to bored teenagers, she is trying to rebuild a life. Her neighbour seems concerned to conceal his past behind a facade of impeccable manners. It's not immediately clear why Solomon is living in the village, but his African origin suggests a complex history that is at odds with his dull routine of washing the car and making short trips to the local supermarket. Though all he has in common with the English is a shared language, it soon becomes clear that Solomon hopes that his new country will provide him with a safe haven in which he might enjoy the decent behaviour and graciousness that he believes the English habitually practice. Gradually they establish a form of comfort in each other's presence that alleviates the isolation they both feel. A Distant Shore is a masterful novel and a brilliant exploration of an England that is changing beyond measure as the world outside its borders intrudes. (2002-10-18)

About this title

Review:

"Provocative. . . . His novels have a way of . . . staying with you long after you've closed the book." -The New York Times Book Review

"Rich and deeply affecting. . . . With the elegance and maturity of a prize-winning author . . . Phillips lives, breathes, and masterfully teases into prose the singular dilemma of the outsider." -The Boston Globe

"A powerful contemporary fable about cultural clashes and individual yearnings . . . told with a cool restraint." -The Baltimore Sun

"Compellingly readable. . . . Impossible to pull away from. . . . [Phillips] has demonstrated a remarkably fluent ability to inhabit characters whose perspectives on life differ radically from his." -Los Angeles Times

"Astonishing. . . . Chilling. . . . A Distant Shore marks new heights in this author's narrative accomplishments." -The Miami Herald

"Suspenseful, atmospheric, adventurous." -The Independent

"A devastatingly sad, powerful work of displacement, loneliness and racism." -San Francisco Chronicle

"A page-savourer. . . . The plot is teased out with all the supple control of a superb craftsman in his prime. . . . A remarkable and penetrating novel." -The Times (London)

"Graceful and dizzying. . . . A novel of failed grasps at redemption and horrors that reduce characters to madness, murder, and incoherent grief." -The Christian Science Monitor

"A distillation of everything that makes Phillips' work so impressive: lucid, deceptively simple prose combined with huge ideas and complex emotion. . . . Arguably his most accomplished work to date." -Time Out (London)

"Intriguing. . . . Transcend[s] limitations of time and place. . . . [Phillips'] use of descriptive detail and subtle symbolism is achingly on point." -Black Issues Book Review

"Just the sort of writing that reminds us how vital fiction can be." -The Herald (Glasgow)

"Hums with ambition. . . . You can't help but admire Phillips' desire to explore . . . one of the great unexamined tragedies of our time." -The Guardian

Book Description:

A superb new novel from one of 'the best and most productive writers of his generation' (New York Times). (2002-10-18)

About this edition

• Publisher: Secker
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0436205645
• ISBN 13: 9780436205644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320