
Melissa
Jonathan Taylor(Author)
Salt Publishing
Will be published approx. on 1. October 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
272 pages
978-1-78463-035-5 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the 2016 East Midland Book Awards
Melissa is set in 1999-2000. At roughly 2pm on 9th June 1999, on a small street in Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent, a young girl dies of leukaemia; at almost the same moment, everyone on the street experiences the same musical hallucination. The novel is about this death and accompanying phenomenon - and about their after-effects, as the girl's family gradually disintegrates over the following year.
Melissa is set in 1999-2000. At roughly 2pm on 9th June 1999, on a small street in Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent, a young girl dies of leukaemia; at almost the same moment, everyone on the street experiences the same musical hallucination. The novel is about this death and accompanying phenomenon - and about their after-effects, as the girl's family gradually disintegrates over the following year.
Reviews / Votes
????? Melissa avoids the sensational, sentimental, and over-emotional traps and offers an unblinkered view of a family trying to make sense of tragedy. So far, it's rather like Carys Bray's A Song For Issy Bradley, but whereas the Bradleys for all their differing opinions behave as a family, the Combs lack that cohesion and act as individuals, each filled with frustration, anger and grief. Melissa is definitely a darker yet quirkier read. * Our Book Reviews * This is an impressive novel, which successfully captures a wide range of themes and ideas. To me, while reading Melissa, I imagined the central story of the hallucination as the trunk of a tree while the aftermath on individual characters were like branches, heading off in different directions but always coming back to the central idea.One of the reviews from the back cover of the book calls Melissa 'an intricate kaleidoscope of a novel' and I totally agree. This really is a must read, and deserves lots of readers. * Writer's Little Helper * I thought Melissa was an intriguing, at times heartbreaking, read. It was at times scathing about modern life, at times brave about the human condition. It's well worth a read, enjoyable and engaging. * Books from Basford * Jonathan Taylor's important novel Melissa explores what happens when these stages do not succeed one another in a linear fashion, and when some stages (particularly acceptance) do not occur at all. Adopting an intricate structure inspired by the theme and variation technique in classical music composition, and apparently inspired by true events surrounding a collective musical hallucination, Melissa rejects the standard Hollywood narrative of adversity leading to joy. -- Conor Farrington * The Lancet *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78463-035-5 (9781784630355)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
Jonathan Taylor's new novel is Melissa, which was shortlisted for the East Midlands Book Award 2016. His previous books include the novel Entertaining Strangers (Salt, 2012) and the memoir Take Me Home (Granta, 2007). He is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. He is editor of Overheard, an anthology of short stories for reading aloud.