Synopsis
Weldon's 29th novel is a wickedly witty and prophetic portrait of the possible future of capitalism. It is the imagined life of Frances, Weldon's actual younger sister who did not survive her birth.
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About the Author
A novelist, playwright and essayist, Fay Weldon is best known for her novels The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Praxis, and Worst Fears. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of St. Andrews in 1990, and was awarded a CBE from the Queen in 2001. In 2006, Weldon was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University in West London. She lives in Dorset with her husband, the poet Nick Fox.
From Booklist
Weldon’s twenty-ninth novel creates a history for her real-life stillborn sister, calling her Frances and placing her in 2013 London, where the recession has turned the once-thriving city into an Orwellian dictatorship. This alternate universe is ruled by the National Unity Government. The state controls everything: politicians have been replaced by sociologists, food is rationed, and everything is monitored by CCTV. Frances Weldon, once a rich and successful novelist, spends much of the story huddled on the stairs of her home in Chalcot Crescent, hiding from debt collectors. Frances uses her perch to fill in the story, an 80-year adventure of family drama, speculation, and confession, with occasional philosophical asides on aging, fate, biology, and the nature of fiction. Frances discovers her family’s involvement in a planned overthrow of the government, casting an additional shadow on her circumstances. But plot is not the driving force here. What makes this novel succeed is Weldon herself, Fay that is. Her prose is observant, clever, witty, and thought-provoking despite its bleak framework—a heavy subject made palatable, even engaging, because Fay Weldon does the telling. --Carol Gladstein
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Chalcot Crescent
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Condition: Very Good. 2009. Export/Airside ed. Paperback. Clean copy with minor shelf wear. . . . . Seller Inventory # KOC0016747
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Chalcot Crescent
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Chalcot Crescent
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Corvus, London, England, 2009
ISBN 10: 1848873050
ISBN 13: 9781848873056
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