The Wilderness
The Wilderness
paperback
Published:
4 February, 2010
Description
FROM THE AUTHOR OF 2024 BOOKER PRIZE WINNING ORBITAL
It's Jake's birthday. He has lost his wife, his son is in prison and he is about to lose his past. Jake has Alzheimer's.
As the disease takes hold of him, the key events of his life shift, and what until recently seemed solid fact melts into surreal imaginings. Is his daughter alive or long dead? And why exactly is his son in prison? There was a cherry tree once, and a yellow dress, but what do they mean? Is there anything he'll be able to salvage from the wreckage?
*cover may vary*
‘Deeply original and captivating… [a novel] so full of urgent life that it rouses even as it terrifies’ OLIVIA LAING, OBSERVER
‘Brilliant… An extraordinary dramatization of a mind in the process of disintegration’ THE TIMES
Prizes
Winner of Betty Trask Award 2009,Short-listed for Guardian First Book Award 2009,Short-listed for Orange Prize for Fiction 2009
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780099526537 |
| ISBN10 | 0099526530 |
| Number Of Pages | 336 |
| Item Weight | 236 g |
| Product Dimensions | 130 x 198 x 23 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Vintage Publishing |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
Brave and intelligent...a mesmerising work * Independent *
A stunning composition of human fragility and intensity * Guardian *
An extraordinary dramatisation of a mind in the process of disintegration ... Brilliant - read it now, before it scoops up all the prizes * The Times *
Touches a resounding chord of melancholy. The author, whose debut this is, is very talented * Evening Standard *
This is a finely written ode to memory, identity and love * Financial Times *
a forensic examination of loss and misunderstanding, a paean to the vital force of stories, and an incredibly moving look at a sword of Damocles that hangs over us all * Observer *
The imagined experience of dementia is intricately, cleverly woven * Sunday Times *
A brave, intelligent book * Daily Express *
Harvey uses her precise and unostentatious style to full effect * Times Literary Supplement *
A treat for literature lovers who appreciate complexity in their novels and aren't afraid to deal with tough topics * Library Journal *
Author's Bio
Samantha Harvey is the author of the novels Orbital, The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping. Orbital was the winner of the Booker Prize 2024, and her other work has been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award, the Women's Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the Walter Scott Prize. The Wilderness was awarded the Betty Trask Prize. She is a tutor on the MA course in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.