The Paper Lovers - Hardcover

Woodward, Gerard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1509847987 ISBN 13: 9781509847983

Publisher: Picador, 2018

Synopsis

'Hugely enjoyable' John Boyne, author of The Heart's Invisible Furies Arnold Proctor’s quiet life is thrown off balance when he falls obsessively in love with Vera, a religious woman and one of his wife’s friends. Vera seems untroubled by her wrongdoing, yet faithless Arnold is wracked with guilt. He has never believed in God, but now he wonders if he truly believes in anything at all?Polly makes handcrafted paper, and even though the age of paper is dead, she runs a successful shop selling her exquisite products. Polly is secure and happy in her life, until the day her husband Arnold makes a very uncharacteristic declaration.Gerard Woodward's The Paper Lovers is a devastating story of sexual, religious and artistic obsession. It is about love and betrayal, and what becomes of us after our greatest certainties have been shattered.

About this title

About the Author

Gerard Woodward is the author of a number of novels, including Nourishment and an acclaimed trilogy comprising of August (shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread First Novel Award), I'll Go to Bed at Noon (shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize), and A Curious Earth. He published several prize-winning collections of poetry before turning to fiction. His collection of poetry, We Were Pedestrians, was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

Review

Woodward is an agile writer * TLS * A mordantly ironic novel . . . Paper, we're reminded at one point, has an edge, and there are plenty of those to Woodward's discomforting tale * Daily Mail * The wry truths that Woodward teases from the ensuing identity crises are universal in their poignancy * Mail on Sunday * Gerard Woodward is one of our finest writers . . . he writes with subtlety and skill * Daily Telegraph * Woodward's prose has a rare and wondrous texture that comes from his ongoing play between the comedic and tragic moments of his characters' lives. The Paper Lovers is a beautifully wrought narrative with a devastating ending - an intimate exploration of requited and unrequited desire in all its forms. I couldn't put it down till I was done, and then I wanted to laugh and cry all at once, at the sheer absurdity of being human. An epic novel that should draw comparisons with Greene's The End of the Affair. -- Nikita Lalwani, author of The Village Hugely enjoyable, a unique love story that's both witty and poignant. -- John Boyne, author of The Heart's Invisible Furies What really makes this book so impressive and enjoyable is the writing, whether it is Woodward's occasional tongue-in-cheek similes or his convincing insights into all manner of things * Sunday Times * Among his many gifts is Woodward's extraordinary skill in taking all the big themes - sex, truth, faith, obsession, existential crisis, the works! - and wrapping them up with such deft lightness of touch that the pages all but turn themselves. This is contemporary family drama at its most compelling, and with a brutally exquisite ending. -- Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1509847987
• ISBN 13: 9781509847983
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320