Desperate to find a home, a restless, wandering woman determines that the only way she can appease her terrible homesickness is to occupy the still center of death. Unable to commit suicide, she hires a professional killer and contracts him to murder her, by her choice and on her terms.
Restlessness chronicles their meeting and its unexpected story and outcome. In an effort to dissuade the woman from death, her killer elicits from her stories about her travels.
In this reversal of Sheherazade, who saves her life through a continuous story, Restlessness becomes a story about how to avoid story, a travel book about how to evade travel, a manual for how to stay put. Breathtaking in the tension of its incipient murder, this novel will not permit the reader to break the thread of watching and waiting that both death and travel conjure.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Aritha van Herk was born in central Alberta, and studied at the University of Alberta. She first rose to international literary prominence with the publication of Judith, which received the Seal First Novel Award and which was published in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Professor who teaches Canadian Literature and Creative Writing in the Department of English at the University of Calgary.
"A brave novel . . . a remarkable achievement. . . . An indelible record of planned erasure, a homage to life written in the vocabulary of death. It is about contradiction, and it is contradictory; it is restless without being relentless. It is disquietingly beautiful and hauntingly articulate about belonging and love, and about the connectedness of stories and writing and life and death."
-- Books in Canada
"A subtle and rewarding novel."
-- Quill & Quire
"Van Herk can expertly delight and stimulate the intellect, with elegant phrasing, witty theoretical discussions and allusions, and ornate flourishes."
-- Calgary Herald
"fascinating and tender."
-- Geist
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: As New. No Jacket. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.45. Seller Inventory # G0889951853I2N00
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Seller Inventory # FORT692052
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good+. Canadian First. Complete number line from 1 to 5; signed on the title page by Aritha Van Herk with no inscription; French flaps format; minor wear; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition. Book. Seller Inventory # 019546
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Restlessness (Fiction) This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780889951853
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR009228352
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780889951853
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition in trade paperback with French flaps. Signed by Ms. Van Herk on the title page. No hardcover edition. Slight spine lean, minor soiling to edges. Very Good. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 254455