{"product_id":"the-high-places-9781444776737","title":"The High Places","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinner of the International Dylan Thomas Prize 2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''The judges recognised the mastery of form which is present in Fiona McFarlane''s unforgettable collection of stunning short stories . . . highly varied in tone and brought the reader to characters, situations and places which were haunting in their oddity and moving in their human empathy.'' \u003cbr\u003eChair of judges of International Dylan Thomas Prize 2017, Professor Dai Smith CBE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Night Guest\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of fourteen scintillating short stories: surprising, wise, thought-provoking and superbly wrought. Ranging in setting from Australia to Greece, England to a Pacific island, they focus on people: their hopes, fears, dreams and disappointments, and their relationships -  between ill-matched friends, daughters and mothers, fathers and sons, married couples and sisters. Some are eccentric, like the widower who believes his dead wife''s mechanical parrot speaks to him, or the research scienti\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMcFarlane has a gift for cutting into a story at precisely the right angle . . . Her writing is skilled; her point of view is unique. -- Kate Saunders * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eDeliciously unsettling, [McFarlane's] characters act and react in unexpected ways, taking both reader and themselves by surprise. -- Lucy Scholes * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eIn her distinct and unusual voice - the disconcerting tone and dry humour are reminiscent of Margaret Atwood or Valerie Martin - McFarlane examines relationships with uncomfortable clarity and insight, observing the subtext of human behaviour while acknowledging a mysterious power behind the reality we think we know. -- Imogen Lycett Green * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eLike a fascinating box of brightly coloured, faintly surreal toys -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eA terrific collection . . . a baker's dozen of powerful stories -- Jackie McGlone * The Herald (Glasgow) *\u003cbr\u003eWhile the stories in THE HIGH PLACES are imaginative, playful, and intellectually sophisticated, it is no overstatement to suggest that their power resides in the authority of McFarlane's style, not just in her ideas. McFarlane's sentences fizz with imagery . . . The resultant voice is difficult to parse - highly assured, comic but kind, an effervescent admixture of fable, magic realism, and irony . . . [a] remarkable collection. * Australian Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eSuperb . . . It's not just that McFarlane's descriptions are beautiful prose, though they are. THE HIGH PLACES is more deliberate than that, and more intelligent. McFarlane strikes an emotional note on every page, whether it be humour or nostalgia or discomfort or joy . . . Nothing is forced and the reason I can't pick my favourite is that every one of the 13 stories is a winner. * The Saturday Paper *\u003cbr\u003eMcFarlane has an intelligent and distinctive voice and she's a marvel at conjuring atmosphere. -- Helen Elliott * Sydney Morning Herald *\u003cbr\u003eWhile lesser writers use similes to render descriptions more vivid, McFarlane's heighten aspects of her characters and advance her plots. -- Christopher Benfey * The New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eMcFarlane writes with a deceptively plain hand, and her style gives shape to the unanswered questions of how well we can ever know each other or ourselves . . . The writing is clever and skilful in spades * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eMcFarlane has a knack for bringing out the macabre . . . and shows herself as an exceptionally fine writer of the ways coercion and care entangle us * Publishers Weekly *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hodder \u0026 Stoughton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49083975106903,"sku":"9781444776737","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781444776737.jpg?v=1725550635","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-high-places-9781444776737","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}