A Sweet Obscurity
Page 44
Strange Boy
Paul Magrs
A ten-year-old boy is torn between his warring, separated parents and takes refuge in the consolations of science fiction and the power he exerts over his oddly attractive best friend.
In the Place of Fallen Leaves
Tim Pears
The impatience of childhood and a hypnotic evocation of deep countryside feature in this remarkable first novel set in a long, hot Devon summer.
Find Out More
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.galewarning.org
Patrick Gale’s own website in which you can find out about his other books, read review coverage, post your own reviews, leave messages and contact other readers. There are also diary listings to alert you to Patrick’s broadcasts or appearances and a mailing list you can join.
www.changingfaces.org.uk/Home
A UK charity that supports and represents people who have disfigurements of the face or body.
www.visitcornwall.com
The best site for finding accommodation, activities, historical facts and everything else you would need when visiting Cornwall.
www.endellion.org.uk
Website for Cornwall’s St Endellion Music Festival, the inspiration for A Sweet Obscurity’s Trenellion Festival.
About the Author
PATRICK GALE was born on the Isle of Wight in 1962. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester. He now lives on a farm near Land’s End. As well as writing and reviewing fiction, he has published a biography of Armistead Maupin, a short history of the Dorchester Hotel and chapters on Mozart’s piano and mechanical music for H.C. Robbin Landon’s The Mozart Compendium. His most recent novel is The Whole Day Through. His new collection of short stories, Gentleman’s Relish, is published this year.
Visit the website: www.galewarning.org
Praise
From the reviews of A Sweet Obscurity:
‘Arguably Gale’s most questioning, troublesome work. It amuses, startles and occasionally bewilders. A Sweet Obscurity is worth every minute of your time’
Independent
‘Intriguing and impressive. His greatest strength lies in his sensitive evocation of those transient, often indefinable states that reveal the truth about people’s deepest desires and discontents. A memorable study of a child forced cruelly, even tragically, to grow up too soon’
Sunday Times
‘A rich comedy of sexual and familial confusions…It is Gale’s generosity of spirit and Neo-Romantic perspective that make his such a rare and welcome fictional voice’
MICHAEL ARDITTI, The Times
‘Gale’s enthusiasm as a storyteller is beguiling, and he carries the reader along with him. There is much pleasure to be found in the clarity of his writing and observation’
Daily Telegraph
‘An impressive writer with a sharp eye for telling detail and a poet’s ear for a well-turned phrase’
Guardian
‘[Gale] is a master of context and background, flinging wide the perspectives of his dramatis personae with exemplary patience and generosity’
Times Literary Supplement
‘[Gale’s] understanding of relationships and the messiness of real life makes this a convincing and engaging read’
Mail on Sunday
Also by the Author
The Aerodynamics of Pork
Kansas in August
Ease
Facing the Tank
Little Bits of Baby
The Cat Sanctuary
Caesar’s Wife
The Facts of Life
Dangerous Pleasures
Tree Surgery for Beginners
Rough Music
Friendly Fire
Notes from an Exhibition
The Whole Day Through
Gentleman’s Relish
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com