{"product_id":"asylum-road-9781526617408","title":"Asylum Road","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'An eerily familiar reflection of our current moment ... It continues to haunt me' NATASHA BROWN, \u003ci\u003eI PAPER\u003c\/i\u003e BOOKS OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e'I will go wherever she takes me. A phenomenal book' DAISY JOHNSON\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e'A brilliant, scalding novel ... sharp, intricately layered, impossible to forget' MEGAN HUNTER\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e'Stunning ... beautifully written and deeply unsettling'\u003ci\u003e BOOKSELLER\u003c\/i\u003e, EDITOR'S CHOICE \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eCHOSEN AS A 2021 BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR BY \u003ci\u003eOBSERVER\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e INDEPENDENT\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFINANCIAL TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEVENING STANDARD\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGRAZIA\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSTYLIST\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eELLE\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eTHE NATIONAL\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFIVE BOOKS\u003c\/i\u003e AND \u003ci\u003eBURO\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e  A couple drive from London to coastal Provence. Anya is preoccupied with what she feels is a relationship on the verge; unequal, precarious. Luke, reserved, stoic, gives away nothing. As the sun sets one evening, he proposes, and they return to London engaged.   But planning a wedding does little to settle Anya’s unease. As a child, she escaped from Sarajevo, and the idea of security is as alien now as it was then. When social convention forces Anya to return, she begins to change. The past she sought to contain for as long as she can remember resurfaces, and the hot summer builds to a startling climax.  Lean, sly and unsettling, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e is about the many borders governing our lives: between men and women, assimilation and otherness, nations, families, order and chaos.   What happens, and who do we become, when they break down?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e is also the work of a literary voice maturing…it is \u003cb\u003etaut and propulsive…masterful and wicked\u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eA caustic, claustrophobic – and distinctly European – reinvention of the road novel ... \u003cb\u003eSudjic is a cartographer of menace\u003c\/b\u003e * Times Literary Supplement *\u003cbr\u003eSudjic seems to be writing not with words but somehow with the absences between them. This book feels like the breakdown not only of a character but of, as you read, the reader.\u003cb\u003e I will go wherever she takes me. A phenomenal book\u003c\/b\u003e * Daisy Johnson *\u003cbr\u003eConfident and timely ... \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e shows Sudjic confidently expanding the reach of her fiction, with \u003cb\u003ean unerring instinct for asking timely questions\u003c\/b\u003e * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eA fragmented, unsettling story, and an interesting meditation on modern relationships, families, guilt and what happens when escape starts to feel more like exile * Independent, Books of the Week *\u003cbr\u003eAdmirable ... A novel pervaded by a genuinely unnerving sense of anxiety, dread and unease ... Reaches\u003cb\u003e a gloriously near-unhinged intensity\u003c\/b\u003e ... As Sudjic so expertly illustrates, sometimes there’s not a lot of difference between taking and losing control. * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eSly, unsettling and \u003cb\u003esupremely accomplished \u003c\/b\u003e * i news *\u003cbr\u003eI adored this beautifully written, powerful exploration of how past trauma is never far from the surface, however deeply one tries to stifle it ... \u003cb\u003eDeep, accomplished and often thought-provoking\u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eA smart and sensitively layered story ... Sudjic’s novel is full of raw emotion and visceral description ... This is a book about the gaps in our collective experience, and the tension that fills them. It’s about memory and identity and things left unsaid * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eHaunting and haunted ... \u003cb\u003eSudjic coolly executes a climax as treacherous and unexpected as a hairpin bend.\u003c\/b\u003e * Economist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn early treat\u003c\/b\u003e * Independent, The books to look out for in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eHaunting and haunted ...  Sudjic coolly executes a climax as treacherous and unexpected as a hairpin bend * Economist *\u003cbr\u003eSudjic’s writing is hers alone and in this unsettling, disturbing and piercing novel, she tells the unravelling of Anya as she faces up to a past she’s tried to run from and a present that demands too much * Stylist, Best New Fiction 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA vivid picture of disintegration and suppressed trauma\u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eChilling * Elle, Your 2021 Reading List *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003cb\u003e a slick, treacly delight\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e- by turns, blackly comic and heart-shattering\u003c\/b\u003e. There is often the sense that the real story is happening between the words on the page, like the memory of a dream tucked in some nook of the mind, just out of reach but tantalisingly close if you could just angle yourself correctly to reach it * Culture Whisper *\u003cbr\u003eCarries echoes of Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk. It’s\u003cb\u003ea book about love and history, trauma and identity\u003c\/b\u003e * Observer, Fiction to look out for in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe hot summer builds to a startling climax\u003c\/b\u003e * Grazia, The 30 Best Books We’re Looking Forward To Reading in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eCarries echoes of Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk. It's a book about love and history, trauma and identity * Observer, Fiction to look out for in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA brilliant, scalding novel\u003c\/b\u003e that is both intimate and restless, restrained and unpredictable. Sudjic’s prose is as elegant and searching as ever; her evocation of trauma and longing is \u003cb\u003esharp, intricately layered, impossible to forget\u003c\/b\u003e * Megan Hunter *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLooks at what happens when love and social conventions collide\u003c\/b\u003e * Evening Standard, A look ahead to the best new books in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eSudjic’s writing is hers alone and in this \u003cb\u003eunsettling, disturbing and piercing\u003c\/b\u003e novel, she tells the unravelling of Anya as she faces up to a past she’s tried to run from and a present that demands too much * Stylist, Best New Fiction 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eI can safely say that\u003cb\u003e no one conjures anxiety like Olivia Sudjic\u003c\/b\u003e. She has written \u003cb\u003ea strange and sophisticated novel\u003c\/b\u003e, and the experience of inhabiting the mind of her narrator is both\u003cb\u003e terrifying and numinous \u003c\/b\u003e * Avni Doshi *\u003cbr\u003eLooks at what happens when love and social conventions collide * Evening Standard, A look ahead to the best new books in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eThis early part of the year is a fertile time for several millennial writers who have already established themselves as names to watch.\u003cb\u003e Olivia Sudjic’s new novel \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e follows her success with 2017’s \u003ci\u003eSympathy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e * Financial Times, What to read in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e[A]n impressive novel\u003c\/b\u003e; Sudjic’s cool affect and sense of detachment provides cover for a growing sense of urgency and alienation * Five Books, Notable Novels of Spring 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eThe hot summer builds to a startling climax * Grazia, The 30 Best Books We’re Looking Forward To Reading in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eOlivia Sudjic's\u003cb\u003e powerful\u003c\/b\u003e novel \u003cb\u003epulses with the strange, fragmented, apocalyptic rhythms \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eof our uneasy present\u003c\/b\u003e and uncertain future.\u003cb\u003e Visceral and tender, brutal and unspeakably alive\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e digs into the soft heart of our hard times, into intimacies upended by the anthropocene and pulled taught by omnipresent crisis * Alexandra Kleeman *\u003cbr\u003eIf positive reviews from the likes of Avni Doshi and Daisy Johnson don’t sway you, Sudjic’s\u003cb\u003e unsettling, but nonetheless brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e prose should * Buro, Books to look forward to in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e[A] \u003cb\u003epiercingly clear\u003c\/b\u003e look at a modern world grappling with immigration and history in post-Brexit Britain, through the prism of a couple on the verge of making life-changing decisions.\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eExploring otherness and the borders between men and women, nations and families, it’s edgy, unsettling and yet incredibly sensitive\u003c\/b\u003e * The National, Anticipated books to look out for this year *\u003cbr\u003eThis early part of the year is a fertile time for several millennial writers who have already established themselves as names to watch. Olivia Sudjic’s new novel \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e follows her success with 2017’s \u003ci\u003eSympathy\u003c\/i\u003e * Financial Times, What to read in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eSudjic singularly conveys a feeling so specific to our time – a feeling only her prose can name, and which the reader will instantly recognize. \u003cb\u003eThe unsettled, unsettling atmosphere of this book resonates perfectly\u003c\/b\u003e with its larger states of migration – to or from one's history, one's nation, one's loved ones; away from or towards one's darkest impulses. \u003cb\u003eSmart, edgy and exacting\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e leaves so much unsaid, and shows us the consequences of that' * Caoilinn Hughes *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eChilling\u003c\/b\u003e * Elle, Your 2021 Reading List *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBold, astonishing and original\u003c\/b\u003e. Sudjic explores relationships in post-Brexit Britain with her trademark precision and lyricism * Zeba Talkhani *\u003cbr\u003e[A] piercingly clear look at a modern world grappling with immigration and history in post-Brexit Britain, through the prism of a couple on the verge of making life-changing decisions. Exploring otherness and the borders between men and women, nations and families, it’s edgy, unsettling and yet incredibly sensitive * The National, Anticipated books to look out for this year *\u003cbr\u003eAn impressive novel; Sudjic’s cool affect and sense of detachment provides cover for a growing sense of urgency and alienation’ * Five Books, Notable Novels of Spring 2021 *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsylum Road \u003c\/i\u003eis an\u003cb\u003e exceptionally intelligent, sensitive, and thoughtful\u003c\/b\u003e novel about 21st century life. With subtlety and control, Sudjic powerfully examines the consequences of Brexit, immigration, and historical trauma. \u003cb\u003eWith the energy of a thriller and an emotionally raw finale reminiscent of Elena Ferrante\u003c\/b\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Asylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e is a very special book indeed * Julianne Pachico *\u003cbr\u003eWriting with \u003cb\u003ethe offbeat intensity of Deborah Levy\u003c\/b\u003e, Sudjic offers a discomforting dissection of one woman’s fractured identity.\u003cb\u003e Atmospheric and unflinching\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how the places we seek refuge can ultimately prove to be as toxic as the traumas we flee * Ruth Gilligan *\u003cbr\u003eIf positive reviews from the likes of Avni Doshi and Daisy Johnson don’t sway you, Sudjic’s unsettling, but nonetheless brilliant prose should * Buro, Books to look forward to in 2021 *\u003cbr\u003eA swelter of trauma and neurosis, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road \u003c\/i\u003eis\u003cb\u003e a thrilling, bruising read\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eSudjic’s prose scythes through political, sexual and class constructs\u003c\/b\u003e to expose the cruel and fatuous power plays that can undo us at any moment * Shiromi Pinto *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003emasterfully probes the tensions between the identities we inherit and identities we craft\u003c\/b\u003e. Sudjic’s writing coagulates feelings of anxiety and insecurity into an embodied, wrought and visceral experience. \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ethat rare novel that dares to probe at uncomfortable questions without flinching \u003c\/b\u003efrom the unwelcome answers that are revealed * Alex Allison *\u003cbr\u003eElectrifying ... A taut, disquieting story ... In precise, elliptical prose, Sudjic paints a powerful portrait of a psyche damaged by war and family schisms. A meditation on identity and belonging, \u003ci\u003eAsylum Road\u003c\/i\u003e speaks to our unsettled times * Culture Whisper *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409833238871,"sku":"9781526617408","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781526617408.jpg?v=1730508179","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/asylum-road-9781526617408","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}