The Bride of Catastrophe
Heidi Schmidt(Author)
Fourth Estate Ltd (Publisher)
Book
Paperback/Softback
496 pages
978-0-00-712289-9 (ISBN)
Description
A tender, sharp and entertaining novel, from one of the most original women writers at work today.
The Bride of Catastrophe is a comedy that follows the fortunes of Beatrice Wolfe, a 'feral child' raised in a peculiar, isolated family and loosed onto an unsuspecting world at Sweetriver College.
There she falls under the spell of her tutor, an energetic, exuberant, lesbian iconoclast called Philippa Sayres. After graduation, we follow Beatrice's odyssey into Real Life as she tries, valiantly, earnestly, ridiculously to make conventional and meaningful progress. She insists she's a lesbian, though everyone from her parents to her female lovers to the man she unwittingly adores can see she's wrong. But then she's not used to being wrong - she has long since been the grown-up in her troubled family.
A latterday Emma who snaps her book smartly shut and thinks with satisfaction "Now I know how love progresses.", Beatrice has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing up to do. Witnessing her journey, in this hugely entertaining and tender comic novel, is a hilarious, poignant delight.
`THE BRIDE OF CATASTROPHE is hilarious even as it veers to the edge of tragic. The novel's sensibility keeps you reading and laughing. Heidi Jon Schmidt's wicked and dark humor makes perfect crazy sense of the unlikeliest elements - from a ping pong ball factory to the intricate personal politics of a lesbian community. The brio and originality of her short stories are alive and well in this wonderful novel.' Katharine Weber
The Bride of Catastrophe is a comedy that follows the fortunes of Beatrice Wolfe, a 'feral child' raised in a peculiar, isolated family and loosed onto an unsuspecting world at Sweetriver College.
There she falls under the spell of her tutor, an energetic, exuberant, lesbian iconoclast called Philippa Sayres. After graduation, we follow Beatrice's odyssey into Real Life as she tries, valiantly, earnestly, ridiculously to make conventional and meaningful progress. She insists she's a lesbian, though everyone from her parents to her female lovers to the man she unwittingly adores can see she's wrong. But then she's not used to being wrong - she has long since been the grown-up in her troubled family.
A latterday Emma who snaps her book smartly shut and thinks with satisfaction "Now I know how love progresses.", Beatrice has a lot to learn, and a lot of growing up to do. Witnessing her journey, in this hugely entertaining and tender comic novel, is a hilarious, poignant delight.
`THE BRIDE OF CATASTROPHE is hilarious even as it veers to the edge of tragic. The novel's sensibility keeps you reading and laughing. Heidi Jon Schmidt's wicked and dark humor makes perfect crazy sense of the unlikeliest elements - from a ping pong ball factory to the intricate personal politics of a lesbian community. The brio and originality of her short stories are alive and well in this wonderful novel.' Katharine Weber
Reviews / Votes
`This book blazes with light, intelligence, and tremendous humour... There is line after line of hilarious and desperate truth here - what a joy to read!' Elizabeth Strout, author of Amy and Isabelle`As disconcerting and comically beautiful as its title. In polished, nearly Austenian prose, she blurs the lines between nostalgia and self-examination,
inanity and tragedy, as the misguided Beatrice tries her at love - of all sorts.' Village Voice
`Energetic, garrulous, and funny, with characteristic affectionate yet biting wit.' Washington Post
Review for Darling?
`If you've had your fill of wispy , insubstantial, girly short stories, pleasant enough to read and all too easy to forget, take heart. A sharp yet lusciously written collection - the literary equivalent of a slice of gooseberry tart. Full of shocks, beautiful images and new ways of seeing things.' Harriet Lane, Observer
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-00-712289-9 (9780007122899)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Heidi Jon Schmidt lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she teaches at Provincetown Arts Centre.