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.
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'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
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.
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Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # think1847089097
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