Sarah Quigley

A best-selling, compelling and evocatively realised novel based on real events and figures. It has now sold into eight different countries around the world. In June 1941, Nazi troops march on Leningrad and surround it. Hitler's plan is to shell, bomb, and starve the city into submission. Most of the cultural elite are evacuated early in the siege, but Dmitri Shostakovich, the most famous composer in Russia, stays on to defend his city, digging ditches and fire-watching. At night he composes a new work. But after Shostakovich and his family are forced to evacuate, only Karl Eliasberg - a shy and difficult man, conductor of the second-rate Radio Orchestra - and an assortment of musicians are left behind in Leningrad to face an unendurable winter and start rehearsing the finished score of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony.

The Conductor

Fifteen-year-old Becca has the habit of revealing too much personal information about herself and her friends, but when her boyfriend breaks up with her and she vows to stop "oversharing," she does not realize that her blog postings are not nearly as anonymous as she thought.

Longlisted for the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for the 2013 Prix Femina, this cinematic and beautifully written novel tells a compelling story about music, survival, friendship and love set against the backdrop of a fierce Russian winter and the Second World War June 1941: Nazi troops surround the city of Leningrad, planning to shell and starve its people into submission. Most of the cultural elite are evacuated, but the famous composer Shostakovich stays behind to defend his city. That winter, the bleakest in Russian history, the Party orders Karl Eliasberg, the shy, difficult conductor of a second-rate orchestra, to prepare for the task of a lifetime. He is to organize a performance of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, a haunting, defiant new piece that will be relayed by loudspeakers to the front lines. Eliasberg’s musicians are starving and scarcely have the strength to carry their instruments, but for five freezing months the conductor stubbornly drives them on, depriving those who falter of their bread rations. Slowly the music begins to dissolve the nagging hunger, the exploding streets, the slow deaths . . . But at what cost? Eliasberg’s relationships are strained, obsession takes hold and his orchestra grows weaker. Soon, they are struggling not just to perform but to stay alive.

At heart, the story is a sombre confessional, the life of the somewhat unsettled artist Gest, who is slowly, mournfully exposed during the 50 days it takes to complete a commissioned portrait. As she ticks off time, bleak day by bleak day, she is overwhelmed by an eerie sense of her former self, her revelations coating the present and future with a sinister slant. Gest's life is framed with an unnamed city and burned-out building she lives and works in; the cast of characters rotating about her whose names she deletes and replaces with descriptive titles. So there are daily meetings and conversations with muse and model Candy Girl and with psychologist Ordinary Man; a past as a porn star and drug addict; a son whose unspoken absence clearly haunts her.

Fifty Days

A superb collection of stories from a prize-winning writer - some short, some long, set in locations that span the globe, all exploring the theme encapsulated by the title: tenderness. Meet Sadie, the high-flying divorce lawyer who ends up putting marriages back together; the Ice Cream Girl, discovered in a superette and transplanted to Hollywood; the seven-year-old Prometheus, who faces death on a daily basis. With a mix of humour and compassion, each story carries the punch of a compacted novel, highlighting those illuminating moments of human connection. Sarah Quigley has an impressive track-record as a fiction writer, and these stories will not disappoint. Stylistically assured, emotionally resonant, they are guaranteed to capture minds and hearts. Quigley has won numerous awards for her short fiction, including the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Pacific Rim Short Story Award. Her best-selling novel, The Conductor, has sold throughout the world. It was long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the prestigious Prix Femina.

Short Stories

Tenderness

È l’inverno del 1941 a Leningrado. La città è stretta nella morsa dell’esercito tedesco e sembra frantumarsi sotto le granate nemiche. I corpi dei caduti vengono ammassati ai lati della Prospettiva Nevskij. Le donne ridotte a stecchini arrancano ince spicando fino alla Neva, per attingere acqua attraverso le buche ricavate nel ghiaccio. Ovunque, suoni terribili: lo stridore delle slitte cariche di cadaveri, le terrificanti esplosioni dei candelotti di dinamite impiegati per scavare enormi fosse comuni, l’ululato dei cani e dei gatti randagi uccisi per sfamarsi. Per le strade della città, dove esseri umani strisciano come spettri in mezzo a mucchi di rifiuti sperando di rimediare qualche avan zo, per poi morire lì dove si trovano, Karl Il’icˇ Eliasberg, il direttore dell’Orchestra Radiofonica di Leningrado, avanza a fatica. È reduce da un incontro con il direttore della radio e con i responsabili del Dipartimento delle Arti. Gli hanno trasmesso un ordine di Ždanov, il segretario del partito che guida la difesa della città, un ordine che non ammette repliche: ricostituire l’Orchestra Radiofonica, sciolta per la morte di buona parte dei suoi componenti e per l’inedia dei musicisti sopravvissuti, per eseguire la Settima Sinfonia che Dmitrij Šostakovicˇ ha appena terminato lontano da Leningrado. Ždanov si è già procurato la partitura, arrivata in aereo da Mosca sorvolando le linee nemiche, ed è convinto che, eseguita a Leningrado, dove è stata in gran parte scritta durante i primi mesi dell’assedio, la sinfonia può sollevare il morale non solo della città, ma anche degli uomini al fronte. Eliasberg è paralizzato dalla paura e dal desiderio. Mai in vita sua gli è stata offerta un’opportunità del genere, e mai la posta è stata così alta. Dirigere la più grande sinfo nia che Šostakovicˇ abbia scritto! Un onore che sarebbe certamente toccato a Mravinskij, se il direttore della Filarmonica di Leningrado non avesse, grazie alle sue amicizie altolocate, scavalcato le linee nemiche a bordo di un aereo. Tuttavia, come portare a termine quel compito così imponente con i pochi musicisti rimasti, stremati dalla fame e con le mani e i piedi tormentati dai geloni, e i volti di un pallore mortale e coperti di piaghe? Come ridestare l’entusiasmo per la grande musica in chi, durante le battute di riposo, mette la testa tra le ginocchia o posa gli strumenti quasi siano di piombo? Magnifico romanzo che narra di un piccolo eroico gesto – il gesto di un solitario, timido direttore d’orchestra che, con l’aiuto di un violinista e di un gruppo di musicisti straziati dalla fame e dal freddo, riesce a eseguire una Sinfonia che ha avuto un’importanza enorme nella vittoriosa resistenza contro la barbarie nazista – Sinfonia Leningrado mostra come l’arte «possa avere un impatto enorme sugli eventi» (Sunday Star Times).

Sinfonia Leningrado

Die Symphonie des Winters. Es ist eine Zeit, in der alle Musik gefriert. Doch im Kopf eines Mannes entsteht eine Symphonie, die den Menschen im belagerten Leningrad Mut und Hoffnung geben kann. Allerdings bedarf es eines todesmutigen Dirigenten, damit das Werk erklingen kann. – Ein ergreifender Roman über den Sieg der Kunst über die Barbarei. "Natürlich habe ich kein Herz! Ich habe es vor vielen Jahren, auf jener Treppe in Leningrad, Schostakowitsch geschenkt." Im Sommer 1941 verlassen die deutschen Soldaten klammheimlich Leningrad. Eine Katastrophe naht: Die Stadt wird belagert, soll dem Erdboden gleichgemacht wer-den. Der Großteil der Künstler und Kulturschaffenden wird evakuiert. Bis auf Dmitri Schostakowitsch, den wohl berühmtesten russischen Komponisten. Er bleibt, um seine Stadt zu verteidigen. Am Tage hebt er Gräben aus, des Nachts arbeitet er an einem neuen, unerhörten Werk. Doch ein anderer wird zum eigentlichen Helden: Karl Eliasberg, Dirigent eines zweitklassigen Radioorchesters und ebenso glühen-der wie hasserfüllter Bewunderer Schostakowitschs. Hungernd und im Angesicht des Todes wird Eliasberg mit seinem Orchester Schostakowitschs »Siebte Sympho-nie« aufführen. – Ein hochmusikalischer, bewegender Roman über zwei beseelte wie getriebene Männer, die der Kälte einen humanen Klang abringen.

Roman

Der Dirigent

A superbly poised and finely nuanced short story, tracking a pivotal point in a relationship built on reticence and recognition of differences. In the wintry light of the late afternoon, a man and a woman walk through snow-covered palace gardens. Their careful conversation skates over intensely private thoughts, their feelings and memories buried deep like the gardens under the snow. As darkness falls and they fail to find the exit, both the past and their future become clear. Beautifully atmospheric, this short story is a masterpiece.

In the Palace Gardens

Funny, honest, confronting and wise, this is a compelling and bitter-sweet true story of breaking up and breaking through. 'I hear you're divorced?' a friend greets me. 'Congratulations!' The Divorce Diaries outlines the difficult and often heart-breaking process of leaving a marriage and beginning again. Sarah Quigley has garnered numerous accolades, including Column of the Year in the MPA Awards, for her magazine articles on the subject. Now she revisits the tumultuous months leading up to exiting her marriage - and the equally confusing emotions that follow. She overcomes grief, guilt and regret, while learning to enjoy being alone again and living in a tiny rooftop apartment, surrounded by glossy millionaire neighbours. Taking the first tentative steps into a changed world of dating, Quigley shares both her darkest and most hilarious moments as a divorcee, all played out against the colourful bohemian backdrop of her adopted city, Berlin. Ultimately, this book traces the revival of her belief in love.

The Divorce Diaries

Three misfits – close to genius, close to the brink – come together in a desperate love triangle in this compelling novel. When Bright is suddenly catapulted to fame, he can’t cope with the pressure. He decides to end it all by jumping from the 20th floor of a high-rise on his twentieth birthday. He’s saved by the quirky, eccentric Gibby, and soon the two boys find themselves in a love triangle, vying for the attention of the beautiful, brilliant, unreachable Lace, and also trying to protect her from harm. The three misfits – close to genius, close to the brink – travel from England to a beautiful old spa town in Bavaria. Here, in an experimental institution under the colourful Dr Geoffrey, the pressure mounts. Soon it’s no longer clear who’s in the greatest danger, and who needs saving the most. Unflinching, but tender and often humorous, The Suicide Club is an examination of the last taboo in our society – as well as our deep human desire to connect. It explores why we feel the need to extinguish our lives, how we can pull back from the edge, and how – by saving ourselves – we can sometimes also save the people we love.

The Suicide Club

Funny, honest, confronting and wise, this is a compelling and bitter-sweet true story of breaking up . . . and breaking through. 'I hear you're divorced?' a friend greets me. 'Congratulations!' The Divorce Diaries outlines the difficult and often heart-breaking process of leaving a marriage and starting over. Sarah Quigley's articles on the subject have garnered numerous accolades, including Columnist of the Year in the MPA Awards. Now she revisits and reconsiders the tumultuous months leading up to exiting her marriage and the equally confusing emotions that followed. Living in a tiny rooftop apartment, surrounded by glossy millionaire neighbours, Quigley begins the process of overcoming grief and loneliness. As she takes the first tentative steps back into the world of dating, she shares both her darkest and most hilarious moments as a divorcee. Against the colourful bohemian backdrop of her adopted city, Berlin, she rediscovers the satisfaction and joys of independence. 'Brave, insightful and utterly compelling' - Judges on The Divorce Diaries column, MPA Awards, Columnist of the Year

Sarah Quigley

About

Books

Join the club