Bodies of Light

Sarah Moss

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847089097 ISBN 13: 9781847089090

Publisher: Granta Books, 2015

Shortlisted for the 2015 Wellcome Book Prize

Bodies of Light is a deeply poignant tale of a psychologically tumultuous nineteenth century upbringing set in the atmospheric world of Pre-Raphaelitism and the early suffrage movement. Ally (older sister of May in Night Waking), is intelligent, studious and engaged in an eternal - and losing - battle to gain her mother's approval and affection. Her mother, Elizabeth, is a religious zealot, keener on feeding the poor and saving prostitutes than on embracing the challenges of motherhood. Even when Ally wins a scholarship and is accepted as one of the first female students to read medicine in London, it still doesn't seem good enough. The first in a two-book sequence, Bodies of Light will propel Sarah Moss into the upper echelons of British novelists. It is a triumphant piece of historical fiction and a profoundly moving master class in characterisation.

Review:

'A powerful polemic... The writing is concise and powerful; colour coming from Moss's language. The story ends with you wanting more' --Independent on Sunday
'Thought-provoking and illuminating... this meticulously researched novel offers an intriguing portrait of Victorian society' --Daily Mail
'This is an exciting moment in Sarah Moss's career. Her third novel confirms the richness of her concerns and it sharpens our sense of her steely, no-nonsense voice. Historical detail is vividly and feelingly done. Moss produces well-crafted, deeply researched, hard-working novels about hard-working women' --Guardian
'A poignant, well-written tale of a woman's attempts to escape the powerful chains of family' --Sunday Times
'Wise and tender... Moss's style is measured and refined. A very accomplished piece of work' --Financial Times
'The award-winning author of Night Waking is back with an historical novel' --Diva
'What begins as a novel pinned on feminist history is actually a tale that holds up a mirror to the female psyche. Moss pays attention to her history, but it is this human message - that principles along are not enough - which resonates with the reader' --The Times

'A wonderful book... Bodies of Light is not just well-researched and beautifully written, it succeeds in capturing the real nuances of being a woman doctor, now as then. This is no small achievement' --Gabriel Weston, The Lancet

'It was the quality of writing that really sets this book apart. Sarah Moss is an incredibly, extraordinarily gifted writer' --Bill Bryson, chair of the Wellcome Book Prize judges
'For doctors - male or female - wrestling with their own work-life balance, this is a gratifying read.' --Trisha Greenhalgh in the British Journal of General Practice
'A powerful book, intelligent and delicately written. Worthy of its praise' --Biis Books blog

About the Author:

SARAH MOSS was educated at Oxford University and is currently an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Warwick. She is the author of two novels: Cold Earth (Granta 2010), and Night Waking (Granta 2012), which was selected for the Fiction Uncovered Award in 2011; and the co-author of Chocolate: A Global History. She spent 2009-10 as a visiting lecturer at the University of Reykjavik, and wrote an account of her time there in Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland (Granta 2012), which was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2013.