Clare Beams

Broschiertes Buch

The Illness Lesson

Beschreibung

'A modern scream of female outrage. A masterpiece' ELIZABETH GILBERT

'Astoundingly original . . . belongs on the shelf with your Margaret Atwood' NEW YORK TIMES

Haunting, intense and irresistible, The Illness Lesson is an extraordinary debut about women's minds and bodies, and the time-honoured tradition of doubting both.

In 1871, at an elite new school designed to shape the minds of young women, the inscrutable and defiant Eliza Bell has been overwhelmed by an inexplicable illness.

Before long, the other girls start to succumb to its peculiar symptoms - rashes, tics,
night wanderings and fits.

As the disease takes hold, teacher Caroline Hood tries desperately to hide her own symptoms, but
the powers-that-be turn to a sinister physician with dubious methods.

Does Caroline have the courage to confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities of her world
and protect the young women in her care?

'You want to know how horrifying things happened while decent people looked on and did nothing? Read this novel' MARY BETH KEANE

'Subtle, clever, suspenseful . . . builds to a shocking climax' DIANE SETTERFIELD

'A Sunday Times Book to Read in 2020: A classic ghost story for fans of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Deborah Levy, Jeffrey Eugenides' SUNDAY TIMES STYLE

Autor

Clare Beams' short story collection was published in October 2016. It won the Kirkus Best Debut and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Clare lives in Pittsburgh, where she teaches creative writing, most recently at Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Centre for the Arts. This is her first novel.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Black Swan / Random House UK
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 745030
• Seitenzahl: 288
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. Februar 2021
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 196mm x 124mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 197g
• ISBN-13: 9781784164386
• ISBN-10: 1784164380
• Artikelnr.: 60315734

Rezensionen

Astoundingly original, this impressive debut belongs on the shelf with your Margaret Atwood and Octavia Butler collections. New York Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS CHOICE

Brilliant, suspenseful. . . . A masterpiece. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City of Girls

"Astoundingly original. The New York Times Book Review

This is Alcott meets Shirley Jackson, with a splash of Margaret Atwood. . . . Unusual and transporting. Washington Post

A meticulously crafted suspense tale seething with feminist fury. O, The Oprah Magazine

Masterfully considered. . . . Clare Beams cool, cutting prose hypnotically evokes the oppression of female bodies and minds. Entertainment Weekly

Part horror, part case study and . . .

part feminist polemic. . . . [The novel s antagonist] is a true and timeless 21st century villain. San Francisco Chronicle

Both savagely acute in its portrayal of misogyny and tenderly hopeful in its trajectory. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[This] gripping novel meditates on how an all-male establishment can denying women s pain, and how the consequences can shape a society. Vanity Fair

Expertly blends 19th-century and modern diction. . . . Steering [her] protagonist toward liberation, [Beams] seem to suggest that an honest reckoning with misogyny might produce not only solidarity, but also change. The Atlantic

Frightening, suspenseful, and timely, The Illness Lesson explores the crushing weight of oppression and the indefatigable power of female defiance. Esquire

A haunting psychological thriller about society s preoccupation with controlling women s minds and bodies. . . . [An] arresting, beautifully written debut novel. Newsday

An astonishing book. . . . Beams shows a kind of mastery in yoking the natural to the surreal and linking grief and fear to rage. New York Journal of Books

Provocative. . . . A scathing indictment of early toxic masculinity, a measured diatribe against male-dominated medical and educational institution. The Washington Independent Review of Books

Clare Beams writing is a revelation. . . . A fascinating mix of genres (the school story, body horror, paean to feminist anger), [The Illness Lesson] manages to achieve all the things that the best historical fiction should. Irish Independent

Beams takes risk after risk in this, her first novel, and they all seem to pay off. Her ventriloquizing of the late 19th century, her delicate-as-lace sentences, and the friction between the unsettling thinking of the period and its 21st century resonances make for an electrifying read. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Luminous. . . . This suspenseful and vividly evocative tale expertly explores women's oppression as well as their sexuality through the eyes of a heroine who is sometimes maddening, at othertimes sympathetic, and always wholly compelling and beautifully rendered." Booklist (starred review)

Daring. . . . [A] powerful and resonant feminist story. Publishers Weekly