Description
Coming July 2019
With an abandoned degree behind her and a thirtieth birthday approaching, amateur writer Bonnie Falls moves out of her parents’ home into a nearby flat. Her landlady, Sylvia Slythe, takes an interest in Bonnie, encouraging her to finish one of her stories, in which a young woman moves to the seaside, falling under strange influences. As summer approaches, Sylvia suggests to Bonnie that, as neither of them has anyone else to go on holiday with, they should go away together – to the seaside, perhaps. The new novel from the author of the Man Booker-shortlisted The Lighthouse is a tense exploration of obsession, manipulation, the influence of subliminal messaging, and the decay of the English shore. Shot through with a staggering and sinister psychological depth, Bonnie Falls and Sylvia Slythe will prove two of the most unforgettable characters in English-language fiction.
Praise for Death and the Seaside
“Book of the day. Dense, complex, thought-provoking, it manages to be at once a fairytale and a philosophical treatise, high-octane thriller and literary interrogation. Like the dreams that haunt Bonnie’s night-times, it holds its secrets close, and repays careful rereading. The end of the novel, abrupt and death-haunted, feels as neat and tight as a key in a lock, and sheds light on the mysteries that have gone before.” —Sarah Crown, The Guardian
“She is both gifted stylist and talented creator of a new English grotesque.” —Isabel Berwick, Financial Times
Praise for Alison Moore
“[The Lighthouse’s] taut sentences vibrate with tension … Moore constructs a precise and perfectly paced psychological drama in which all our senses are on constant alert … This elegant novel leaves a haunting scent of camphor in the air.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Pick)
“As the parallel stories unpack these two [protagonists’] respective pasts, talismans of memory seem to uncannily connect them: Venus flytraps, the smell of a certain perfume, replica lighthouses that both keep as protective charms. Ms. Moore has written a short, bleak, atmospheric book full of such strange symbols that … suddenly come aglow with meaning.” —Wall Street Journal
“Moore’s works are spare and tender depictions of yearning. In this, her first novel, we follow a man named Futh through Germany, a man who may as well not exist at all. He ruminates and regrets. There’s not much in the way of a plot. But throughout is the scent of lost things: camphor, an extinguished match, peeled oranges, sun cream. Futh’s life is a secret to everyone he encounters, as he can’t make himself known. A slow-burning book that lingers.” —The Guardian
“Moore is a serious talent. There’s art here. There’s care.”—Sam Leith, The Financial Times
“Moore’s triumph is that she manages to thread the needle, creating a haunting, elegiac book that is very hard to put down. Readers will most likely finish The Lighthouse quickly; its images will remain with them long after.” —Shelf Awareness
“Alison Moore paints [her characters] with careful precision…tight and provocative writing.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Starkly written and suspenseful, this novel… is a slow burn of jealousy, anger, and anxiety that reads like a drama peeked at through a crack in a door. Moore’s prose is sharp and often sparse, while her characters are loathsome and sympathetic by turns. Complex and thrilling, this meditation on the past is a gripping story of betrayal and its lingering effects.” —Kirkus Reviews (for The Lighthouse)
“Moore’s deceptively simple style perfectly suits this tale of memory, sadness, and self-doubt … [A] satisfying, mysterious novel.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“[There’s] a quiet sense of sadness that dogs these characters. As they navigate their lives, Moore slowly unearths their essential fears, regrets, and unmet desires, producing a subdued and beautiful feeling of yearning that leaves the reader ruminating long after the final page. A masterful collection.” —Kirkus Reviews (for The Pre-War House)
“These stories possess an eerie stillness … Moore is a master of saying much with few words. The titular, final story seamlessly weaves together memory and family history. A few stories qualify as flash fiction, so readers might start there—and that should be all it takes to get hooked. They’ll also be intrigued by the stories’ endings, which all come with a little hitch. Although these are not happy tales, they are satisfying reads. Moore is the real deal.” —Booklist
“Alison Moore’s collection … is threaded by a sense of unease that speaks to the uncertainty of life’s calm patterns … Moore’s writing is surprising and exact … [the title story] brings the collection to a powerful crescendo.” —Arkansas International
”The best novels are the ones that leave you with a sense of yearning, and in He Wants, Alison Moore proves her mastery of the medium… As Lewis’s desires are revealed, the reader is drawn into a compelling series of regrets, coincidences and reminders that life doesn’t often bestow second chances… Moore’s tightly wreathed prose and assured plotting ensure a bittersweet longing for more once the final page is turned.” —Lynsey May, The List
“How she achieves such big impact with such small ingredients is a mystery to me, but she does. She bloody well does.” —Gav Collins, Gav’s Book Reviews
“He Wants will easily be one of my books of the year… He Wants left me feeling both completely uplifted and utterly devastated, all at once.” —Simon Savidge, Savidge Reads
“Alison Moore is very good on modern alienation… She doesn’t so much lay bare a life as shine blinding pinpricks into its darkest corners.”—Claire Allfree, Metro
