The Body in the Clouds
Page 31
The line “like gold from airy thinness beat” as remembered by Dan (p. 70), and by Ted (p. 90), is from John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.”
The quote on page 108 is from Dannie Abse’s poem “Watching a Cloud” from New and Collected Poems by Dannie Abse, published by Hutchinson. Reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd, and by permission of United Agents LLP on behalf of the estate of Dannie Abse.
In terms of artworks, the sketch of the bridge under construction referred to on p. 89 is inspired by Grace Cossington Smith’s Study for The Bridge in-curve (1930), held in the National Gallery of Australia. Antony Gormley’s stunning Blind Light (2007)—an installation the artist describes as comprising “a chamber 11 metres by 9.5 metres by 3.5 metres high, filled at 1.5 atmospheres of pressure with 7000 lux of light and a density of purified water vapour such that if you hold your hand out in front of you, you can’t see it”—was on show at London’s Hayward Gallery between May and August 2007, and inspired some of the ideas of what it might be like to find yourself standing in a cloud (p. 151). The postcard on Ted’s lowboy (p. 162) is inspired by the painting that also inspired the Auden poem quoted in the epigraph: Pieter Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, held in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. And the postcard Charlie gives Dan as he leaves Sydney (p. 201) is inspired by David Moore’s image Sydney at 16,000 Feet (1966), held in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The compendium of information drawn from First Fleet journals which refers to days of “no extant record” (pp. 275) is John Cobley’s Sydney Cove 1788 (1962).
Thanks also to Steve Offner, Gail MacCallum, Hannah Westland, Ali Lavau, Clara Finlay, Angela Handley, and Jane Palfreyman. Thanks too to Jenny Hewson, Alice Whitwham, Sarah Cantin, and Judith Curr. And to Nigel Beebe.
This project has been assisted by the Australian government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
About the Author
ASHLEY HAY is the internationally acclaimed author of The Railwayman’s Wife, which was honored with the Colin Roderick Award by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the most prestigious literary prize in Australia, and the forthcoming A Hundred Small Lessons. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Ashley-Hay
Facebook.com/AtriaBooks
@AtriaBooks
Ready to dive into another "exquisitely written and deeply felt" (Geraldine Brooks) novel by Ashley Hay?
An award-winning novel of astounding literary prowess, following a widow, a doctor, and a poet, as they recover from a time of war and encounter a poem that both saves and devastates them all.
The Railwayman's Wife
* * *
Two families, one house, a hundred small lessons, and an intricate, bighearted story of what it is to be human.
A Hundred Small Lessons
* * *
ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
ALSO BY ASHLEY HAY
FICTION
The Railwayman’s Wife
NONFICTION
Museum (with Robyn Stacey)
Herbarium (with Robyn Stacey)
Gum: The Story of Eucalypts and Their Champions
The Secret: The Strange Marriage of Annabella Milbanke and Lord Byron
AS EDITOR
Best Australian Science Writing 2014
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
* * *
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2010 by Ashley Hay
Originally published in Australia in 2010 by Allen & Unwin
Published by arrangement with Allen & Unwin
The first epigraph lines are taken from “Musée des Beaux Arts” copyright © 1940 and renewed 1968 by W. H. Auden; from W. H. Auden Collected Poems by W. H. Auden. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC, and Curtis Brown, Ltd. All rights reserved. Any third party use of this material, outside of this publication is prohibited. Interested parties must apply directly to Penguin Random House LLC or Curtis Brown, Ltd. for permission.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Atria Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Washington Square Press/Atria Paperback edition July 2017
WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com.
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Cover design by Lynn Buckley
Cover background art © Vadim Georgiev/Shutterstock
Author photograph © Nigel Beebe
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hay, Ashley, author.
Title: The body in the clouds : a novel / Ashley Hay.
Description: First Washington Square Press trade paperback edition. | New York : Washington Square Press, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016057143 (print) | LCCN 2017004232 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501165115 (softcover) | ISBN 9781501165122 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Life change events—Fiction. | Self-realization—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Historical.
Classification: LCC PR9619.4.H38 B63 2017 (print) | LCC PR9619.4.H38 (ebook) | DDC 823/.92--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016057143
ISBN 978-1-5011-6511-5
ISBN 978-1-5011-6512-2 (ebook)