An Inventory of Heaven
Published on 2. May 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-78033-875-0 (ISBN)
Description
As a young woman, Mavis Gaunt leaves post-war London to make a new life for herself in rural Devon, where she spent a few blissful months of her childhood as an evacuee. Living alone in the verdant hamlet of Shipleigh, she believes she's found a heaven on earth - until a violent tragedy brings trouble to paradise, and turns Mavis's idyllic solitude into a tormented, guarded isolation.
Decades later, the arrival of a newcomer to the village forces Mavis to make a final reckoning: should she take her horrible secret to the grave? Or, should she summon up her ghosts and, in doing so, lay them to rest? An Inventory of Heaven is a lyrical and intimate meditation on the rural life, falling in love and the long passing of time.
Decades later, the arrival of a newcomer to the village forces Mavis to make a final reckoning: should she take her horrible secret to the grave? Or, should she summon up her ghosts and, in doing so, lay them to rest? An Inventory of Heaven is a lyrical and intimate meditation on the rural life, falling in love and the long passing of time.
Reviews / Votes
More intimate than Thomas Hardy, and as perceptive too, about the countryside and country people, Jane Feaver is a supremely compelling chronicler of rural isolation. -- Michael Morpurgo Accomplished in every way, this novel is a true delight. * The Independent * Pitch perfect....Most memorable is Feaver's language - burnished and sturdily poetic with a saving comic streak * Observer * Jane Feaver has proved an expert at creating a sense of place ... tender, imaginative prose * Sunday Herald. * It's wonderful. The Inventory of Heaven is a revitalising exception to all the grim, mannered, clever books I read over the summer. The observation, the ear, the breadth of imaginative sympathy - all these reminded me why it's worth reading fiction. -- Sean O'BrienMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
306 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78033-875-0 (9781780338750)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Previous edition
Person
Jane Feaver is a novelist and short story writer. According to Ruth (Harvill Secker, 2007), was shortlisted for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award and the Dimplex Prize; Love Me Tender (Harvill Secker, 2009) was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. After twenty years working in the South West, Jane now lives in Edinburgh.