The Shutter of Snow (Faber Editions) (Paperback)

Emily Holmes Coleman

ISBN 10: 0571375200 / ISBN 13: 9780571375202

Published by Faber & Faber, London, 2023

About this Item

Paperback. 'Extraordinary. A fascinating and unexpected delight. Coleman shows howwomen might write if we were free - and how murderous we'd be.' Lucy Ellmann'Haunting and evocative, this is a timeless portrayal of madness, capturing theterror and loneliness of being untethered from reality.' Catherine ChoThe only thing to do is to put hammers in the porridge and when thereare enough hammers we shall break down the windows and all of us shalldance in the snow.Some days, Marthe Gail believes she is God; others, Jesus Christ. Her baby,she thinks, is dead. The red light is shining. There are bars on the window.And the voices keep talking.Time blurs; snow falls. The doctors say it is a breakdown; that this isGorestown State Hospital. Her fellow patients become friends and enemies,moving between the Day Room and Dining Hall, East Hall and West Side,avoiding the Strong Room. Her husband visits and shows her a lock of herbaby's hair, but she doesn't remember, yet - until she can make it upstairs, ascendingtowards release .Shocking and hilarious, tragic and visceral, this experimental portrait ofmotherhood and mental illness written in 1930 - just before Woolf's TheWaves and 33 years before Plath's The Bell Jar - has never felt more visionary. Introduced by Claire-Louise Bennett, experience onenew mother's psychological journey in this lost 1930foremother of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780571375202

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Shutter of Snow (Faber Editions) (Paperback)
• Publisher: Faber & Faber, London
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0571375200
• ISBN 13: 9780571375202
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Introduced by Claire-Louise Bennett, experience one new mother’s psychological journey in this lost 1930 foremother of Sylvia Plath''s The Bell Jar.

''Astonishing and moving. A pretty amazing book.'' Tessa Hadley
''Extraordinary. A fascinating and unexpected delight.'' Lucy Ellmann
''Haunting and evocative, this is a timeless portrayal of madness.'' Catherine Cho
''A startling, luminous and magnetic novel about the complexity of motherhood.'' Yiyun Li
''With its deep musicality, Coleman''s unforgettable voice was years ahead of its time.'' Sinéad Gleeson
''The most famous unknown of the century.'' Djuna Barnes, author of Nightwood

The only thing to do is to put hammers in the porridge and when there are enough hammers we shall break down the windows and all of us shall dance in the snow.

Some days, Marthe Gail believes she is God; others, Jesus Christ. Her baby, she thinks, is dead. The red light is shining. There are bars on the window. And the voices keep talking.

Time blurs; snow falls. The doctors say it is a breakdown; that this is Gorestown State Hospital. Her fellow patients become friends and enemies, moving between the Day Room and Dining Hall, East Hall and West Side, avoiding the Strong Room. Her husband visits and shows her a lock of her baby''s hair, but she doesn''t remember, yet - until she can make it upstairs, ascending towards release ...

Shocking and hilarious, tragic and visceral, this experimental portrait of motherhood and mental illness written in 1930 has never felt more visionary.