The Rain Before it Falls - Hardcover

Coe, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670917281 ISBN 13: 9780670917280

Publisher: Viking, 2007

Synopsis

'What I want you to have, Imogen, above all, is a sense of your own history; a sense of where you come from, and of the forces that made you.'

Rosamund lies dying in her remote Shropshire home. But before she does so, she has one last task: to put on tape not just her own story but the story of the young blind girl, her cousin's granddaughter, who turned up mysteriously at her party all those years ago. This is a story of generations, of the relationships within a family - and of what goes to make a child. Called "the best English novelist of his generation" by Nick Hornby, Jonathan Coe extends his range in this magnificent account of a Shropshire family in the last half of the twentieth century.

About this title

Review:

"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." -Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World"
"A triumph...from it's cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --Timothy Peters, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer"
"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --"The Atlantic Monthly"
"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --"The New Yorker
"
"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe"
"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, "New York Observer"
"Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --Anna Mundow, "The Boston Globe
"
"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement," This brief novel makes an emotionally overwhelming case that within ordinary women's lives there are profound reserves of beauty and despair, crumbled hopes and the purest love." --Kyle Smith," People"
"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --"Publishers Weekly"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." -James Urquhart, "Financial Times"
"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." -Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World"
"A triumph...from it's cryptically beautiful title to its subtly riveting narrative, from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --Timothy Peters, "San Francisco Chronicle"
"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer"
"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --"The Atlantic Monthly"
"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --"The New Yorker
"
"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe"
"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, "New York Observer"
"Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --Anna Mundow, "The Boston Globe
"
"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement," This brief novel makes an emotionally overwhelming case that within ordinary women's lives there are profound reserves of beauty anddespair, crumbled hopes and the purest love." --Kyle Smith," People"
"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --"Publishers Weekly"

"From the Hardcover edition."

A triumph . . . from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion. "San Francisco Chronicle" Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's "Atonement" . Emotionally overwhelming. "People" Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, ["The Rain Before It Falls"] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels. "The Boston Globe" A gripping family drama worthy of Alice Munro. "Time Out New York ""A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." James Urquhart, "Financial Times""Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether "The Rain Before It Falls" is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." Frances Taliaferro, "The Washington Post Book World" A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare Absorbing, graceful and melancholy. Karen R. Long, Cleveland "Plain-Dealer" Dignified and sure Skillfully layered and plotted. "The Atlantic Monthly" A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters. "The New Yorker" Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking [Coe s] tensest and most affecting work. Matthew Peters, "The Boston Globe" Jonathan Coe s small masterpiece. Regina Marler, "New York Observer" Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn t let go until the very end. "Publishers Weekly""

"A triumph . . . from its amazing narrative voice to its satisfying and moving conclusion." --San Francisco Chronicle"Coe painstakingly builds a psychological mystery evoking the suspense and dread of books such as Ian McEwan's Atonement.... Emotionally overwhelming." --People "Quiet, elegiac, never straying into sentiment, [The Rain Before It Falls] is perhaps the most spare yet poetic of Coe's novels." --The Boston Globe"A gripping family drama worthy of Alice Munro." --Time Out New York "A profoundly moving meditation on misfired relationships, Coe's elegaic seventh novel plumbs the depths of withheld love and emotional austerity among three generations of emotionally dysfunctional women." --James Urquhart, Financial Times"Concentrated and controlled [with] a depth of human understanding...for the admiring reader, the question may be whether The Rain Before It Falls is a diversion for Jonathan Coe, or whether it quietly announces a new direction." --Frances Taliaferro, The Washington Post Book World"A novel told in a simple, decent voice is as welcome as it is rare...Absorbing, graceful and melancholy." --Karen R. Long, Cleveland Plain-Dealer"Dignified and sure...Skillfully layered and plotted." --The Atlantic Monthly"A complex intergenerational mosaic of mothers and daughters." --The New Yorker"Precise and considered, restrained but unblinking...[Coe's] tensest and most affecting work." --Matthew Peters, The Boston Globe"Jonathan Coe's small masterpiece." --Regina Marler, New York Observer"Coe articulates a fierce, emotional current whose sweep catches the reader and doesn't let go until the very end." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author:

Jonathan Coe is the author of eleven novels, all published by Penguin, which include the highly acclaimed bestsellers What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep and The Rotters' Club. His most recent novel is Number 11.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0670917281
• ISBN 13: 9780670917280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288