'They have sent me here because of what happened on the pylon' When Clodagh Brown writes these words at the age of 19, she believes that she is leaving behind the traumatic events of her youth. But Clodagh soon learns that you can never entirely escape your past. In the aftermath of the incident on the pylon – a gargantuan electrified grasshopper – Clodagh goes off to university, moves into a basement flat arranged by her unsympathetic family and finds freedom trekking across London's rooftops with a gang of neighbourhood misfits. As she begins a thrilling relationship with a fellow climber, however, both Clodagh and the listener are haunted by the memory of the pylon and of the terrible thing that happened there – and by the eerie sense that another tragedy is just a footfall away.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Clodagh is supposed to feel guilty and is being punished more than anyone quite realises; it was the love of high places that led her to climb pylons and got her best friend killed--it is claustrophobia which is driving her to the edge in the basement London flat to which she has been exiled. Barbara Vine's brilliantly atmospheric new thriller Grasshopper is the tale of Clodagh's recovery and liberation; it is also the tale of new mistakes, and their disastrous consequences. In the London of the late 1980s, Clodagh finds her own level--and it is way above the streets, with a roof-jaunting group of disaffected young people, each with a trauma of their own. For Swedish Liv, it is the nightmare of au-pairing; for Silver, it was abduction as a small boy; for the sinister young thug Jimmy, it was sexual abuse on a massive scale. When they graduate from merely clambering around to trying to do good, that is when the trouble starts... We all know where good intentions lead, after all. Vine is more good-natured than usual here--we know that the mature electrician Clodagh who tells the story came through OK, and that her voice is one we can trust, more or less... --Roz Kaveney
"Mesmerizing. . . . A teasing narrative of fatal obsession."--Orlando Sentinel "The Vine novels are sublime works of psychological suspense...Grasshopper is as skillful as anything this wonderful writer has done."--The Seattle Times"A typically elegant, and typically elegiac, turn from the woman with two award-winning names. And one superlative voice."--Fort Worth Star Telegram
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR001913785
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Seller: Reuseabook, Gloucester, GLOS, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Used; Very Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Seller Inventory # CHL3707402
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Seller: Ammareal, Morangis, France
Hardcover. Condition: Bon. Légères traces d'usure sur la couverture. Salissures sur la tranche. Ammareal reverse jusqu'à 15% du prix net de cet article à des organisations caritatives. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Book Condition: Used, Good. Slight signs of wear on the cover. Stains on the edge. Ammareal gives back up to 15% of this item's net price to charity organizations. Seller Inventory # E-646-269
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Seller: Manyhills Books, Traralgon, VIC, Australia
Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Trade Paperback. 406 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Viking, UK, 2000. First Edition. *** CONDITION: This book is in very good condition. More specifically: Covers have light creasing. Spine has moderate reading creases. . Pages are lightly tanned. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: Blamed by her parents for the tragic death of a friend, Clodagh has been banished from their home in the countryside to a dingy basement flat in the city. Her life is transformed when she meets the inhabitants on the top floor of 15 Russia Road. An exotic range of young people who explore a London of roofs, eaves and ledges, thrilling in the freedom and danger. Clodagh, haunted still by the accident, finds that running the roofs brings her back to life, but it seems that tragedy and misfortune may not be done with her yet. Barbara Vine's 10th novel, Grasshopper is an enthralling, chilling novel that mirrors Vine's acclaimed London Underground novel King Solomon's Carpet. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; Crime; ISBN: 0670891754. ISBN/EAN: 9780670891757. Inventory No: 12010685. The photo of this book is of the actual book for sale. Seller Inventory # 12010685
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Seller: Reading Habit, Buttaba, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Large Softcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. Large softcover, first edition, 628gms, 405 pages. Book is in good condition with minor general wear and tear and moderate page discolouration/spotting throughout, otherwise no other pre-loved markings. Seller Inventory # GENFIC10024
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