The Falconer
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 5. August 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
168 pages
978-1-78463-009-6 (ISBN)
Description
Award-winning writer Alice Thompson's compelling new novel is a story of transformation; an exploration of the shifting borderlands between imagination and reality.
It is 1936. Iris Tennant has applied, under a pseudonym, to become personal assistant to Lord Melfort, the Under-Secretary of War, at his estate in the Scottish Highlands. Her plan is to find out why her younger sister Daphne committed suicide there a year previously. As Iris gradually falls under the spell of Glen Almain, she starts to see the apparition of Daphne haunting its glades and begins to wonder about the manner of her death. Is there really a beast that inhabits the woods? Who is the mysterious falconer? What actually happened to Daphne, and is Iris destined for the same fate?
A backdrop of impending war and the spectre of Nazi Germany loom over this strange, dark tale. What ensues is a battle between instinct and reason, fantasy and history.
It is 1936. Iris Tennant has applied, under a pseudonym, to become personal assistant to Lord Melfort, the Under-Secretary of War, at his estate in the Scottish Highlands. Her plan is to find out why her younger sister Daphne committed suicide there a year previously. As Iris gradually falls under the spell of Glen Almain, she starts to see the apparition of Daphne haunting its glades and begins to wonder about the manner of her death. Is there really a beast that inhabits the woods? Who is the mysterious falconer? What actually happened to Daphne, and is Iris destined for the same fate?
A backdrop of impending war and the spectre of Nazi Germany loom over this strange, dark tale. What ensues is a battle between instinct and reason, fantasy and history.
Reviews / Votes
Thompson's writing is, as ever, the kind that demands full attention - important details are embedded in lyrical description or insinuated into an apparently innocuous observation. This is not a book that is kind to readers - you have to buy into the world its author has created, accept its own very special laws - and that requires effort. But it's effort that is ultimately rewarded: I doubt you'll read another book quite like it this year. The world she creates is claustrophobic and hypnotic, recognisably a dream but also rational on its own, admittedly skewed, terms... Many novelists bore readers to sleep. Wake up to The Falconer. * The Sunday Herald *More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78463-009-6 (9781784630096)
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
Person
Alice Thompson was born in Edinburgh. She is the former keyboard player of post-punk eighties band, The Woodentops. She won The James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Justine. Her second novel, Pandora's Box, was shortlisted for The Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year. Her other novels are Pharos, The Falconer, The Existential Detective, Burnt Island, The Book Collector and, most recently, Chimera. She is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Edinburgh University.