The Maker of Swans - Hardcover

O’Donnell, Paraic

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1474600360 ISBN 13: 9781474600361

Publisher: W&N, 2016

Synopsis

Amid the fading grandeur of a country estate, Clara lives in the care of Mr Crowe, a man of many mysterious gifts, and his faithful manservant, Eustace. Free from rules and lessons, she inhabits a silent world of her own. She has her books, and her secret places.

Mr Crowe was once the toast of the finest salons: a man of learning and means, he travelled the world, dazzling all who met him. Now, he devotes himself to earthly pleasures, while his great library gathers dust and his once magnificent gardens grow wild.

But Mr Crowe and his extraordinary gifts have not been entirely forgotten. When he commits a crime of passion, he attracts the attention of Dr Chastern, the figurehead of a secret society to which Crowe still belongs. When Chastern comes to call him to account, his sinister attention is soon diverted to Clara. For Clara possesses gifts of her own, gifts whose power she has not yet fully grasped. She must learn to use them quickly, if she is to save them all.

About this title

Review:

This debut comes highly praised by Costa prize-winner Helen Macdonald . . . it is O'Donnell's arresting descriptions of the natural world that are likely to live longest in the mind (DAILY MAIL)

it would not be surprising if the public clamours for a second instalment of this vividly imagined and deeply pleasurable gothic fantasy - not to mention a film. (FINANCIAL TIMES)

at its best, the prose in O'Donnell's first novel is glorious, combining an ear for deep cadences of language with a phenomenal acuity of vision. (THE GUARDIAN)

Poetic and strange, this Gothic novel is a dark, elegant celebration of the power and beauty of words and the spells they weave. (SUNDAY EXPRESS)

this book is like the swans Clara makes in her dreams, though it may assume a familiar shape, it remains very much its own thing, strange and new and captivating. (THE INDEPENDENT)

O'Donnell's eloquent descriptions and old-world characters make it a charming, lyrical read even when tension is high. I admired the depth of O'Donnell's imagination, which allowed him to conjure uo this enthralling tale . . . A literary feast (STYLIST)

A powerful thriller (VOGUE)

Wonderfully dark, magical (ELLE)

Strange and beautiful - one of Stylist's Essential Reads for 2016 (STYLIST)

A fabulously assured, elegant Gothic-flavoured tale (WOMAN AND HOME)

Book Description:

THE NIGHT CIRCUS meets THE TIGER'S WIFE meets JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL in this magical and mysterious gothic debut, picked as one of STYLIST magazine's Essential Reads for 2016.

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1474600360
• ISBN 13: 9781474600361
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336