Description
A NOW MAGAZINE MUST-READ BOOK FOR FALL 2019
Nearing thirty, with an abandoned degree and half-hearted dreams of becoming a writer, Bonnie Falls finally moves out of her parents’ home and into a shabby flat. When her enigmatic landlady takes an interest in her—and one of her unfinished stories—Bonnie’s aspirations are rekindled, and she’s quickly persuaded by the older woman’s suggestion that they go on holiday to a seaside town like the one in the story. A tense exploration of power and vulnerability, obsession and manipulation, Death and the Seaside is a masterpiece of form and gripping psychological novel about the stories that we tell ourselves.
Praise for Death and the Seaside
“As with earlier masters of the genre such as Daphne du Maurier, Moore creates a psychological thriller dripping with foreboding…Another triumph from Moore, her clear and unambiguous writing style as well as her ability to build tension will appeal to both adolescents and adults.”
—Jacqueline Snider, Library Journal (starred review)
“Moore excels at mining the mundanity of life for profound emotional impact…heartbreaking.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A concise and satisfying psychological drama that explores the intersection of stories and life as well as power, obsession and fear … Moore has a sense for just the right image to expose the uncanny fissure in an apparently ordinary moment … This is not the sort of novel that achieves its impact with violence and shocking plot twists. In fact, the understated quality of the action serves only to highlight Moore’s insight into the places where relationships, art and everyday life might turn into something strange and revealing.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“An intense and deftly scripted exploration of power and vulnerability, obsession and manipulation, Death and the Seaside showcases author Alison Moore’s genuine flair for original and impressive storytelling skills for producing gripping psychological novel that will hold the reader’s attention from first page to last.”
—Midwest Book Review
“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:
“Moore is a serious talent. There’s art here. There’s care.”
—Sam Leith, The Financial Times
“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
“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
“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
