Search results for ""Author Anna Smaill""

‘Astonishing’ Emily Perkins, author of Lioness ‘Beautifully lyrical’ Mat Osman, bassist of Suede and author of The Ghost Theatre A lyrical and ambitious exploration of madness and what it is like to experience the world differently, from the Booker Prize–longlisted author of The Chimes. In Ueno Park, Tokyo, as workers and tourists gather for lunch, the pollen blows, a fountain erupts, pigeons scatter, and two women meet, changing the course of one another’s lives. Dinah has come to Japan from New Zealand to teach English and grieve the death of her brother, Michael, a troubled genius who was able to channel his problems into music as a classical pianist — until he wasn’t. In the seemingly empty, eerie apartment block where Dinah has been housed, she sees Michael everywhere, even as she feels his absence sharply. Yasuko is polished, precise, and keenly observant — of her students and colleagues at the language school, and of the natural world. When she was thirteen, animals began to speak to her, to tell her things she did not always want to hear. She has suppressed these powers for many years, but sometimes she allows them to resurface, to the dismay of her adult son, Jun. One day, she returns home, and Jun has gone. Even her special gifts cannot bring him back. As these two women deal with their individual traumas, they form an unlikely friendship in which each will help the other to see a different possible world, as Smaill teases out the tension between our internal and external lives and asks what we lose by having to choose between them.

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WINNER OF THE 2016 WORLD FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NOVELLONGLISTED FOR THE 2015 MAN BOOKER PRIZEAn Elle Book of the YearAn Independent Book of the YearOne to Watch Independent on SundayA Bookseller Best Debut of 2015One to Watch 2015 Huffington PostAn Amazon Rising Star'The Chimes is a remarkable debut. It's inventive, beautifully written, and completely absorbing. I highly recommend it.' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow BirdsA mind-expanding literary debut composed of memory, music and imagination.A boy stands on the roadside on his way to London, alone in the rain.No memories, beyond what he can hold in his hands at any given moment.No directions, as written words have long since been forbidden.No parents - just a melody that tugs at him, a thread to follow. A song that says if he can just get to the capital, he may find some answers about what happened to them.The world around Simon sings, each movement a pulse of rhythm, each object weaving its own melody, music ringing in every drop of air.Welcome to the world of The Chimes. Here, life is orchestrated by a vast musical instrument that renders people unable to form new memories. The past is a mystery, each new day feels the same as the last, and before is blasphony.But slowly, inexplicably, Simon is beginning to remember. He emerges from sleep each morning with a pricking feeling, and sense there is something he urgently has to do. In the city Simon meets Lucien, who has a gift for hearing, some secrets of his own, and a theory about the danger lurking in Simon's past. A stunning debut composed of memory, music, love and freedom, The Chimes pulls you into a world that will captivate, enthral and inspire.

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