Light Shining in the Forest - Hardcover

Paul Torday

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297867474 ISBN 13: 9780297867470

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2013

Synopsis

'..the best estimate we have shows that every five minutes a child goes missing in the UK' Norman Stokoe has spent his life climbing the greasy pole. A career civil servant, he knows his way around. He can quote the numbers. He can provide the references. So when the new government decides to appoint regional 'Children's Czars', Norman is an obvious candidate. He settles down in his new leather chair behind his new desk overlooking the River Tyne and waits for the green light to begin his mission. The green light never comes. What does happen is that two children go missing. Norman has built a career being 'strategic rather than operation' but now, faced with a campaigning journalist and a distraught mother, he is forced to become involved. Meanwhile Geordie Nixon, working deep in the wilderness of Kielder forest is seeing strange things. Are they for real or is he losing his mind? And what place is there in this brave new world for the miraculous?

About this title

About the Author

Paul Torday burst on to the literary scene in 2007 with his first novel, SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN, an immediate international bestseller which has been translated into 28 languages and has been made into a film starring Ewan McGregor, Kristin Scott Thomas and Emily Blunt. His subsequent novels, THE IRRESISTIBLE INHERITANCE OF WILBERFORCE, THE GIRL ON THE LANDING, THE HOPELESS LIFE OF CHARLIE SUMMERS, MORE THAN YOU CAN SAY, THE LEGACY OF HARTLEPOOL HALL and LIGHT SHINING IN THE FOREST, were all published to great critical acclaim. He was married with two sons by a previous marriage, had two stepsons, and lived close to the River North Tyne. He died at home in December 2013.

Review

Torday's exploration of human anguish and pain, interspersed with the dark haunting rural environment, provides the template, while his biting social comment showcases a writer at the very top of his game. * YORKSHIRE POST * (A) grippingly dark thriller....Great writing from a master storyteller. -- Viv Groskop * RED MAGAZINE * This is a terrific read in Mr Torday's simple and effective prose style, which should alert us all to what is happening in Britain. * COUNTRY LIFE * Torday's exploration of human anguish and pain, interspersed with the dark, haunting rural environment, provides the template, while his biting social comment showcases a writer at the very top of his game. * PRESS ASSOCIATION * An unsettling, haunting story...Torday has created some strong characters in this memorable, atmospheric and tense novel...His prose is controlled, elegant and measured and his totally unexpected conclusion is very powerful. * THE LADY * (A) disquieting and atmospheric psychological novel. * DAILY EXPRESS * Torday has a vivid flair for describing... * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY * We move from comedy, through pain, to a greater mystery than the mystery with which, on the ordinary level of crime and detection, the author has gripped us. -- Allan Massie * THE SCOTSMAN * Tautly written, the tone acid and angry * EVENING STANDARD * (Torday) has blended some excellent social satire and even a dollop of the supernatural...this is an excellent mash-up, well-written, well-crafted and constantly gripping -- Harry Ritchie * DAILY MAIL * A well-crafted novel...there is momentum, and there is excitement. * THE SPECTATOR * A great story, and very dark in places. * ESSENTIALS MAGAZINE * Paul Torday switches water for woodlands in Light Shining in the Forest, a tale of missing minors set in the author's Northumberland home * VOGUE *

About this edition

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0297867474
• ISBN 13: 9780297867470
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352