The Wanderers
Published on 6. April 2017
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-4711-4665-7 (ISBN)
Description
As they look to the stars, what are they missing back home?
'Phenomenal. A transcendent journey into the mysteries of space and self. Howrey's expansive vision left me awestruck' RUTH OZEKI, author of A Tale for the Time Being
The best of Helen Kane exists in space. If she doesn't go back up, she'll be consigned to a lesser version of herself on a planet that has also seen better days. Helen is an experienced astronaut with a NASA position and a struggling grown-up daughter who needs her but when, at fifty-three, she is offered a place on the training programme for the first mission to Mars, the most realistic simulation ever, she cannot refuse a last chance to walk among the stars.
Her fellow astronauts are Sergei, a gruff Russian whose teenage sons are less mysterious to him than they'd like to think; and Yoshi, who wants to prove himself worthy of the wife he has drifted apart from. The three will be enclosed for months in a tiny craft, while outside their loved ones negotiate everyday life on Earth. How far will the wanderers travel in the pursuit of endeavour, and what will it be like to come home? Station Eleven meets We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves in this brilliantly inventive and sharply observed novel of science, ambition, endeavour and family.
'An astounding, insightful, exhilarating ride' HELEN SEDGWICK, author of The Comet Seekers
'A stealthily brilliant novel. A distinct, shimmering vision of who we are ... at once simple, gorgeous and profoundly moving' PETER NICHOLS, author of The Rocks
'Phenomenal. A transcendent journey into the mysteries of space and self. Howrey's expansive vision left me awestruck' RUTH OZEKI, author of A Tale for the Time Being
The best of Helen Kane exists in space. If she doesn't go back up, she'll be consigned to a lesser version of herself on a planet that has also seen better days. Helen is an experienced astronaut with a NASA position and a struggling grown-up daughter who needs her but when, at fifty-three, she is offered a place on the training programme for the first mission to Mars, the most realistic simulation ever, she cannot refuse a last chance to walk among the stars.
Her fellow astronauts are Sergei, a gruff Russian whose teenage sons are less mysterious to him than they'd like to think; and Yoshi, who wants to prove himself worthy of the wife he has drifted apart from. The three will be enclosed for months in a tiny craft, while outside their loved ones negotiate everyday life on Earth. How far will the wanderers travel in the pursuit of endeavour, and what will it be like to come home? Station Eleven meets We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves in this brilliantly inventive and sharply observed novel of science, ambition, endeavour and family.
'An astounding, insightful, exhilarating ride' HELEN SEDGWICK, author of The Comet Seekers
'A stealthily brilliant novel. A distinct, shimmering vision of who we are ... at once simple, gorgeous and profoundly moving' PETER NICHOLS, author of The Rocks
Reviews / Votes
'Phenomenal. A transcendent, cross-cultural and cross-planetary journey into the mysteries of space and self. Howrey's expansive vision left me awestruck' -- Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being 'The Wanderers is unquestionably the work of a brilliant writer at the height of her powers. Dazzling, a work of wondrous skill and ambition, a book about space that's truly about people, but also about the lonely wonder of true trailblazers, the disparate cast behind a great life, and the compromises that build success' -- J. Ryan Stradal, bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest 'A stealthily brilliant novel. A distinct, shimmering vision of who we are and where we think we want to go. Meg Howrey's three astronauts exist, as we do now, at the edge of science fiction, their story propelled by a seriousness and intelligence wrapped in a comic and tender humanity. Meg Howrey delivers this vision in a prose that feels new, sui generis, with a kind of sleek precision that is at once simple, gorgeous, and profoundly moving' -- Peter Nichols, bestselling author of The Rocks and A Voyage for Madmen 'The Wanderers is a wonderful exploration of space, trust, and what it means to be a conscious creature, finely-tuned and funny from the first page to the last' -- Jonathan Lee, author of High Dive 'Elegant, thoughtful, gorgeously written. A meditation on solitude, connection, aspiration, imagination and reality, which builds effortlessly to moments of immense power and honesty' -- Charles Yu, author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe and Sorry Please Thank YouMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-4711-4665-7 (9781471146657)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Meg Howrey is a novelist and a former professional dancer and actor. Her non-fiction writing has been published in Vogue, and she is the author of the novels Blind Sight and Cranes Dance. She lives in Los Angeles.