Spring: 'A dazzling hymn to hope? Observer: 3 (Seasonal Quartet, 3)

SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

A once-in-a-generation series, Ali Smith''s Seasonal Quartet is a tour-de-force about love, time, art, politics, and how we live now.

''Her best yet, a dazzling hymn to hope, uniting the past and present with a chorus of voices'' Observer

What unites Katherine Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, Shakespeare, Rilke, Beethoven, Brexit, the present, the past, the north, the south, the east, the west, a man mourning lost times, a woman trapped in modern times?

Spring. The great connective.

With an eye to the migrancy of story over time, and riffing on Pericles, one of Shakespeare''s most resistant and rollicking works, Ali Smith tells the impossible tale of an impossible time. In a time of walls and lockdown Smith opens the door.

The time we''re living in is changing nature. Will it change the nature of story?

Hope springs eternal.

Discover all four instalments: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. Ali Smith''s new novel, Companion piece, is available now.

*****

''An astonishing accomplishment and a book for all seasons'' Independent

''Smith is a masterful storyteller . . . Savour it'' Evening Standard

''Infectious in its energy and warmth'' Daily Telegraph