{"product_id":"the-melody-9781509841387","title":"The Melody","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the Man Booker shortlisted author of \u003ci\u003eHarvest\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlfred Busi, famed in his town for his music and songs, is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days in the large villa he has always called home. Then one night Busi is attacked by a creature he disturbs as it raids the contents of his larder. Busi is convinced that what assaulted him was no animal, but a child, ‘innocent and wild’, and his words fan the flames of old rumour – of an ancient race of people living in the bosk surrounding the town – and new controversy: the town’s paupers, the feral wastrels at its edges, must be dealt with. Once and for all. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrical and warm, intimate and epic, \u003ci\u003eThe Melody\u003c\/i\u003e by Jim Crace tracks the few days that will see Busi and the town he loves altered irrevocably. This is a story about grief and ageing, about reputation and the loss of it, about love and music and the peculiar way myth seeps into real life. And it is a political novel too – a rallying cry to protect those we persecute.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003ci\u003eThe Melody\u003c\/i\u003e takes its place among his finest [novels] . . . an ecological fable for modern times' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eStrange, unsettling, brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eone of our most original and inventive novelists\u003c\/b\u003e * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeductively atmospheric\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003edeeply moving\u003c\/b\u003e * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTakes its place among his finest [novels]\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003egrippingly symbolic and intensely real\u003c\/b\u003e * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHypnotic and powerful\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eenchanting and disconcerting\u003c\/b\u003e * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Melody\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eat its most poignant on the subject of growing old\u003c\/b\u003e . . . every sentence is packed with Crace's \u003cb\u003echaracteristic lyricism\u003c\/b\u003e * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eJim Crace writes with \u003cb\u003egreat flair and inimitable imagination\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Melody\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003elyrical and tender\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eone of Britain's most distinctive and accomplished novelists\u003c\/b\u003e * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmbitious, powerful\u003c\/b\u003e * Big Issue *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExquisite\u003c\/b\u003e . . . another choice example of this twice-Booker-nominated English writer’s \u003cb\u003eunique gift\u003c\/b\u003e * National *\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003epowerful novel\u003c\/b\u003e about music, human nature and poverty . . . \u003cb\u003eonly Kazuo Ishiguro rivals Crace's range in terms of emotional power \u003c\/b\u003eand unusual subject matter * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe book retains a \u003cb\u003elingering power\u003c\/b\u003e -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eImpeccably wrought\u003c\/b\u003e * TLS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTerrific\u003c\/b\u003e . . . part political allegory, part dream and part deeply tender meditation on grief * Metro *\u003cbr\u003eAs \u003cb\u003etouching \u003c\/b\u003eas a well-made melody * Daily Telegraph *","brand":"Pan Macmillan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51040919028055,"sku":"9781509841387","price":11.07,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781509841387.jpg?v=1750948286","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-melody-9781509841387","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}