Childish Loves - Hardcover

Markovits, Benjamin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571233368 ISBN 13: 9780571233366

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2011

Synopsis

When his former colleague Peter Sullivan dies, the narrator of Childish Loves inherits his life's work - a number of fragmentary manuscripts about the life of Lord Byron. Fascinated by his prose - and intrigued by the rather sinister rumours surrounding Peter's life, including whispers of an inappropriate liaision with a young boy - he has the manuscripts published and then sets out to discover whether the reimagining of Byron's lost memoires can provide a key to Sullivan's own elusive life and tarnished reputation.

Acting as a literary sleuth, he sorts through boxes of Sullivan's writing; reads between the lines of his scandalous, Byron-inspired stories; meets with the Society for the Publication of the Dead; and tracks down people from Peter's past in an effort to untangle rumour from reality. In the process, he crafts a masterful story-within-a-story that turns on uncomfortable questions about childhood and sexual awakening, innocence and attraction, while exploring the lives of three very different writers and their brushes with success and failure in both literature and life.

About this title

Review:

'Scrupulous in its attention to human detail and the infinitesimal gradations of emotion ... gorgeously told, with all the poet's proclivities and strange physiognomy and rich seams of thought and feeling brought to life...makes for enthralling reading.' -- Kirsty Gunn, Observer

'These are deep waters, Watson! Markovits is a subtle, delicate writer who is at his best in dealing with ambiguities and ambivalences of human relationships... [this is a] fine novel...[Markovits's] patient desire for an old colleague's version of Byron to come to light is itself infused with a generosity of soul.' --A. N. Wilson, Financial Times

'Markovits has a knack of keeping the characters voices distinct and clear, while still creating a commentary on where a work of fiction comes from . . . Childish Loves is a peculiar book, and a highly original one. Those who are unafraid to tackle something new will find much that is rewarding.' --Sunday Business Post

'Brilliantly brings together questions of legacy, the 'writing life', heroism, betrayal and disillusionment, in clear, intelligent prose. It is a perfect finish to the trilogy.' --Independent on Sunday Books of the Year

'This novel brilliantly brings together questions of legacy, the "writing life", heroism, betrayal and disillusionment, in clear, intelligent prose. It is a perfect finish to the trilogy.' --Independent on Sunday

'Markovits has a knack of keeping the characters voices distinct and clear, while still creating a commentary on where a work of fiction comes from . . . Childish Loves is a peculiar book, and a highly original one. Those who are unafraid to tackle something new will find much that is rewarding.' --Sunday Business Post

'His double structure allows him to explain where the stretches of historical fiction have departed from fact... [Markovits] is an exceptional ventriloquist, effortlessly distinguishing the voices of Byron at three different ages and an array of modern teachers, publishers and grieving relatives, each of them establishing their personality in a few phrases . . . perfect period detail . . . a very, very odd book although I mean this as a high compliment in a time when so many authors are content to write again a novel that either they or others have previously written.' --Mark Lawson, Guardian

'Markovits has a knack of keeping the characters voices distinct and clear, while still creating a commentary on where a work of fiction comes from . . . Childish Loves is a peculiar book, and a highly original one. Those who are unafraid to tackle something new will find much that is rewarding.' --Sunday Business Post

His double structure allows him to explain where the stretches of historical fiction have departed from fact... [Markovits] is an exceptional ventriloquist, effortlessly distinguishing the voices of Byron at three different ages and an array of modern teachers, publishers and grieving relatives, each of them establishing their personality in a few phrases . . . perfect period detail . . . a very, very odd book although I mean this as a high compliment in a time when so many authors are content to write again a novel that either they or others have previously written.' --Mark Lawson, Guardian

Book Description:

A stunning historical novel following Byron's scandalous life and loves, and the literary detective attempting to piece it all together.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0571233368
• ISBN 13: 9780571233366
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416