The White Rock
From the bestselling author of The Ballroom
Published on 18. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-241-99549-5 (ISBN)
Description
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BALLROOM AND EXPECTATION
They are separating, she and her husband, after two decades together.
This fact is new.
There are many ways of telling the tale ...
There are many different sides to every story ...
A minibus journeys through rural Mexico. Inside it are twelve strangers on a pilgrimage to the White Rock, which stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast. Like many before them, over centuries and from across continents, they find themselves irresistibly drawn here, for answers, to give thanks, to seek protection.
One of them is a writer. She is travelling with her husband and young daughter, as her faith in her marriage, and the future itself, is foundering. She has come to the White Rock in the hope of excavating a beginning from the rubble of many different endings.
Here she will find the echoes of many stories: of conquest and resistance, of betrayal and belief, of the many different forms of violence and love. Stories that have already unravelled, and stories that might yet illuminate a passage through these uncertain times ...
'An eco-novel you actually want to read' The Times
'Its narrative sweep is capacious . . . It has ambition to match, musing on freedom and reciprocity [and] the redemptive power of storytelling. Impressive' Observer
'Deeply moving' The i
They are separating, she and her husband, after two decades together.
This fact is new.
There are many ways of telling the tale ...
There are many different sides to every story ...
A minibus journeys through rural Mexico. Inside it are twelve strangers on a pilgrimage to the White Rock, which stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast. Like many before them, over centuries and from across continents, they find themselves irresistibly drawn here, for answers, to give thanks, to seek protection.
One of them is a writer. She is travelling with her husband and young daughter, as her faith in her marriage, and the future itself, is foundering. She has come to the White Rock in the hope of excavating a beginning from the rubble of many different endings.
Here she will find the echoes of many stories: of conquest and resistance, of betrayal and belief, of the many different forms of violence and love. Stories that have already unravelled, and stories that might yet illuminate a passage through these uncertain times ...
'An eco-novel you actually want to read' The Times
'Its narrative sweep is capacious . . . It has ambition to match, musing on freedom and reciprocity [and] the redemptive power of storytelling. Impressive' Observer
'Deeply moving' The i
Reviews / Votes
Precise and perceptive ... Deeply satisfying ... We may struggle to find hope, Hope tells us, but it is there in the landscape, in faith and memory and ritual, in the ancient unchanging silences that persist' * Guardian * An eco-novel you actually want to read ... She's an assured author with a knack for an arresting image ... It leaves you with a gentle sense that things keep going * The Times * Its narrative sweep is capacious ... It has ambition to match, musing on freedom and reciprocity, on the redemptive power of storytelling and the sustaining force of ritual ... Demonstrating impressive stylistic verve * Observer * Mesmerising ... Imaginative ... Among its many impressive elements is Hope's handling of the past ... Her greatest talent is in getting under the skin of her characters ... There is a subtle plangency in this powerful portrait of human folly and ferocity * The Herald * Deeply moving ... I, for one, hope we hear plenty more from her * i news * Full of wisdom about the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of our lives * Good Housekeeping * Lyrical and timely * Stella * Mysterious and beautiful. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself: so bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It's stunning writing and it has left me with hope, that we can tell stories like these even as the carbon builds, and that imagination and ideas remain powerful and valid * Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin * Perfectly crafted, evocative prose which effortlessly transported me through two hundred and fifty years of history * Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground * Brilliant. A stunning book of extraordinary, audacious scale * Sadie Jones, author of The Snakes *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
216 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-99549-5 (9780241995495)
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
E-Book
08/2022
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Person
ANNA HOPE is the internationally prizewinning and bestselling author of Wake, The Ballroom, Expectation and The White Rock. She studied at Oxford University and RADA and her novels have been translated into over 20 languages. Expectation is currently being adapted for the screen by Clemence Poesy and Haut et Court films in Paris. She lives in Sussex with her family.