Rupert Thomson

Sometimes love isn’t where you belongIn a mountain village in the Abruzzo region of Italy, Gino, a troubled young man, realises that his childhood sweetheart Franca can give his life the happiness and stability he needs. They seem made for each other, and move to a remote house in the countryside - but there is something in Franca’s past that haunts Gino. Descending into pathological jealousy and resentment towards a married man who had been Franca’s lover, Gino is unable to stop himself imagining the worst, and embarks on a violent path that has catastrophic consequences. Shifting between tenderness and paranoia, beauty and tragedy, this is an extraordinary novel from one of the UK’s most unpredictable and celebrated writers.

If he suddenly found what surrounded him unbearable, it was because it was artificialEverything had been designed and manufactured, and he was trapped in itPhilip Notman, an acclaimed historian, attends a conference in Bergen, Norway. On his return to London, and to his wife and son, something unexpected and inexplicable happens to him, and he is unable to settle back into his normal life.Seeking answers, he flies to Cadiz to see Inés, a Spanish academic with whom he shared a connection at the conference, but his journey doesn''t end there. A chance encounter with a wealthy, elderly couple sends him to a house on the south coast of Crete. Is he thinking of leaving his wife, whom he claims he still loves, or is he trying to change a reality that has become impossible to bear? Is he on a quest for a simpler and more authenticexistence, or is he utterly self-deluded?As he tries to make sense of both his personal circumstances and the world surrounding him, he finds himself embarking on a course of action that will push him to the very brink of disaster.

Před první světovou válkou se v provinčním francouzském městečku potkávají dvě mladé ženy. Talentovanou malířku Suzanne naprosto okouzlí geniální, ale problémová Lucie. Rozvine se mezi nimi tajný milostný poměr. Záhy dojde k neuvěřitelnému zvratu, když se matka jedné z nich provdá za otce té druhé. Jako „sestry“ se přesouvají do Paříže a pod změněnými jmény – Claude Cahun a Marcel Moore – pronikají do nejoslnivějších společenských kruhů a stýkají se s Hemingwayem, Bretonem, Dalím...

Strhující příběh navazuje velice osobitým způsobem na dlouhou tradici, jež se v anglické literatuře vine od gotického románu až po Sběratele či Mága Johna Fowlese. Kniha zjevení je příběh sexuálního zneužití, ale též izolace, ztráty vlastní identity a jejího bolestného hledání. Román je napsán svěžím jazykem, nabízí četná čtenářská překvapení a kromě thrillerového pobavení nutí čtenáře k hlubšímu zamyšlení.

It is winter, somewhere in the United Kingdom, and an eight-year-old boy is removed from his home and family in the middle of the night. He learns that he is the victim of an extraordinary experiment. In an attempt to reform society, the government has divided the population into four groups, each representing a different personality type. The land, too, has been divided into quarters. Borders have been established, reinforced by concrete walls, armed guards and rolls of razor wire. Plunged headlong into this brave new world, the boy tries to make the best of things, unaware that ahead of him lies a truly explosive moment, a revelation that will challenge everything he believes in and will, in the end, put his very life in jeopardy.