Stephanie Bishop

Cambridge, 1963. Charlotte is struggling. With motherhood, with the changes marriage and parenthood bring, with losing the time and the energy to paint. Her husband, Henry, wants things to be as they were and can't face the thought of another English winter. A brochure slipped through the letterbox slot brings him the answer: 'Australia brings out the best in you'. Despite wanting to stay in the place that she knows, Charlotte is too worn out to fight. Before she has a chance to realise what it will mean, she is travelling to the other side of the world. Arriving in Perth, the southern sun shines a harsh light on both Henry and Charlotte and slowly reveals that their new life is not the answer either was hoping for. Charlotte is left wondering if there is anywhere she belongs and how far she'll go to find her way home . . .

The Other Side of the World

For fans of Lisa Halliday and Susan Choi, The Anniversary is a simmering page-turner about an ascendant writer, the unresolved death of her husband, and what it takes to emerge on her own Novelist J.B. Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her former professor, film director, and cult figure, Patrick is much older than J.B.. When they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. But now his success is starting to wane and J.B. is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize. Her art has been forever overseen by him, now it may overshadow his. For days they sail in the sun, nothing but dark water all around them. Then a storm hits and Patrick falls from the ship. J.B. is left alone, as the search for what happened to Patrick - and the truth about their marriage - begins. Propulsive and fiercely intelligent, The Anniversary is exquisitely written with a swift and addictive plot. It's a novel that asks: how legible, in the mind of the writer, is the line between reality and plot? How do we refuse the people we desire? And what is the cost, to ourselves, to others and to our art, if we don't?

The Anniversary

Anniversary

From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of The Other Side of the World comes a brilliant and provocative new novel about inheritance and self-destruction. When Stella's father, Leon, disappears in September 2001, the police knock at her door. She baulks at their questions, not sure how to answer. 'What if I just write it down for you.' One summer, a long time ago, Stella sat watching her father cry while the sky clouded over. He had tried to make amends: for his failures, for forgetting to buy the doll she once hoped for, for the terrible things he had done. The first time Stella sensed that something was wrong was on her ninth birthday. There was an accident, and when she opened her eyes there was the tang of blood in her mouth. Leon was beside her. But not quite there. In the winter, when her father finally came home from hospital, he looked different. Looked at her differently. Now he was missing, and Stella held the key to his discovery. But did he want to be found? And after all that has passed, could Stella bring herself to help him? Stella's whole life has been stained by her father's very struggle to exist. Would this be her inheritance too? Could she choose the steady minutes of an ordinary day? Or would she follow the path of a man out of time? A masterful and deeply moving novel about inheritance and self-destruction, and of how the memories we carry and the blood we share discolour our view of the world ... and ourselves.

Man Out of Time

„Seducător și incisiv în egală măsură." Publishers Weekly Romanciera J.B. Blackwood și soțul ei Patrick, regizor și personalitate-cult, mai în vârstă decât ea, aniversează 14 ani de căsătorie într-o croazieră. Când l-a cunoscut pe Patrick, el părea oarecum fără vârstă, așa cum sunt toți zeii în ochii celor care-i venerează. Însă succesul lui începe să apună, iar J.B. e pe punctul să obțină un premiu literar important. El i-a supervizat dintotdeauna scrierile, dar acum ea ar putea ajunge să-l pună în umbră. După multe zile însorite, se stârnește o furtună cu consecințe dramatice, care declanșează o adevărată căutare a adevărului despre căsnicia lor. Un roman care pune întrebarea cât de clară e, în mintea scriitorului, granița dintre realitate și intrigă. Cum îi refuzăm pe oamenii pe care îi dorim? Și care e prețul, pentru noi, pentru alții și pentru arta noastră, dacă nu-i refuzăm? „Elegant și deplin realizat (…) Periculos de captivant (…) Ce bine ar fi să fie toate romanele atât de atrăgătoare și intuitive în privința naturii umane!" The Guardian „Bishop disecă expert măruntaiele unei relații în cumpănă și inechitățile cu care trebuie să se confrunte femeile (…) În final, întrebarea «a făcut-o sau nu?» e aproape irelevantă. Povestea căsniciei e cea care ne atrage." Booklist „În a doua parte, Aniversarea devine un comentariu feminist despre natura misterelor și a căsniciilor (…) E similar cu cărți contemporane ca The Wife de Meg Wolitzer și Marile minciuni nevinovate de Liane Moriarty în modul în care tratează genul și puterea, dar oferă și plăcerile romanului gotic — case și relații pline de secrete și un narator cu un contact nesigur cu realitatea." New York Times Book Review „O intrigă cu straturi psihologice care întreține suspansul și, în același timp, menține și structura specifică genului crime a cărții." Times Literary Supplement Stephanie Bishop este romancieră și critic literar, laureată a numeroase premii, printre care The Readings Prize for New Australian Writing și Literary Fiction Book of the Year Award. Are un doctorat de la Cambridge University și este profesor de scriere creativă la University of East Anglia. Eseurile și lucrările ei de ficțiune au apărut în London Review of Books, TLS și Sydney Review of Books. Aniversarea este cel de-al patrulea roman al său, după Man Out Of Time, The Other Side of the World și The Singing. O puteți urmări la https://www.stephaniebishop.net

Aniversarea

Includes the first two chapters. Cambridge, 1963. Charlotte is struggling. With motherhood, with the changes marriage and parenthood bring, with losing the time and the energy to paint. Her husband, Henry, wants things to be as they were and can't face the thought of another English winter. A brochure slipped through the letterbox gives him the answer: 'Australia brings out the best in you.' Despite wanting to stay in the place that she knows, Charlotte is too exhausted to fight. Before she has a chance to realise what it will mean, she is travelling to the other side of the world. Arriving in Perth, the southern sun shines a harsh light on both Henry and Charlotte and slowly reveals that their new life is not the answer either was hoping for. Charlotte is left wondering if there is anywhere she belongs, and how far she'll go to find her way home.

Stephanie Bishop

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