Blue Hour
Published on 11. May 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4722-5064-3 (ISBN)
Description
She thinks of blue mountain, her favourite place. 'We're going somewhere where we can be safe. We never have to come back here.'
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor's head.
Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.
As the rest of the world lies sleeping, Eleanor straps her infant daughter, Amy, into the back of her car. This is the moment she knew must come, when they will walk out on her husband Leon and a marriage in ruins since his return from Vietnam. Together, she and Amy will journey to blue mountain, a place of enchantment and refuge that lit up Eleanor's childhood.
As the car eats up the miles, so Eleanor's mind dives back into her fractured relationship with her mother, Kitty. Kitty who asked for so much from life, from love, from family. Kitty who had battled so hard to prise her husband George out of the grip of war. Kitty, whose disapproving voice rings so loud in Eleanor's head.
Tense, visceral, glittering, it is a masterful return to fiction from the author of the acclaimed See What I Have Done.
Reviews / Votes
Blue Hour realises the promise evident in Schmidt's lauded debut See What I Have Done . . . it doesn't loudly declare itself to be an astonishing novel as it inexorably unfolds, but astonishing it most certainly is * Weekend Australian * Assured * Sydney Morning Herald * Without a doubt one of the most thought-provoking novels I have read. Fans of compelling literary fiction can't go past this - Schmidt is an incredible Australian writer * Better Reading * Schmidt's skill for making readers ponder raw and uncomfortable realities is profound . . . This is a mother-daughter story which fills the page with all those parts of womanhood the world does not want you to know about - a hard-to-swallow novel that I urge you to read * Readings * A brilliant novel that can't help but leave a mark on its readers . . . so compelling it's hard to look away * Herald Sun * Schmidt's skill as a writer is her ability to create page-turning literary fiction . . . With its storylines steeped in war and violence and the randomness of life, this new novel has more than an echo of Kate Atkinson. The prose is elegant and finely crafted. Schmidt writes clear, rhythmic sentences, full of cadence and inventive imagery . . . a tense, action-packed novel full of strange, sometimes surreal outcomes * Irish Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
220 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4722-5064-3 (9781472250643)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Sarah Schmidt isd the acclaimed author of SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and won the AIBA Literary Fiction of the Year 2018. She lives in Melbourne where she works as a librarian. You can follow her at https://sarahschmidt.org/ and on Twitter @ikillnovel.