Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies
Longlisted for the Booker Prize
$24.07
- Paperback
448 pages
- Release Date
8 August 2023
Summary
Today I might trace the rungs of her larynx or tap at her trachea like the bones of a xylophone or cook up or undo some great horrors of my own because here is the thing about bodies: they are impossibly easy to prowl, without anyone suspecting a thing. Until, of course, they do. And then, of course, they aren’t.
When Lia finds out that her cancer is back, she tries to keep the landscapes of her past, her present and her body separate. But bodies are porous, unpredictable places.
…Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781529069389 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1529069386 |
| Author: | Maddie Mortimer |
| Publisher: | Pan Macmillan |
| Imprint: | Picador |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 448 |
| Release Date: | 8 August 2023 |
| Weight: | 321g |
| Dimensions: | 30mm x 130mm x 197mm |
| Audience Age: | 18 |
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Critics Review
Remarkable … A tearjerker, but it’s hopeful too … Brave, inventive and mature * Sunday Times *
Here is a book to dance and sing about. An extraordinary, kaleidoscopic dive into language – Daisy Johnson, Man Booker-shortlisted author of Everything, Under
Compelling and uplifting … undeniably impressive: Mortimer is clearly a talent to watch * Telegraph *
An original and memorable novel written in shimmering prose. The characters stayed with me long after I’d finished reading – Sarah Moss, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater
Brave, inventive and mature … a remarkable debut * The Times, The best paperbacks of 2023 *
Lyrical and beautiful, this is a novel unlike anything else * Stylist *
Both expansive and intimate, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is an intricate portrait of a life hurtling towards the inevitable. An extraordinary debut. – Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies
Striking … formally inventive … Sadness is not allowed to crowd out wit and joy * New Yorker *
A beautiful novel about death that feels completely alive, pulsing with tenderness and wit – Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From and The Harpy
An extraordinary debut, unlike anything I’ve read. Wildly inventive, poetic and poignant, this is a rare gem of a novel that took my imagination to new places and touched my heart. – Emma Stonex, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamplighters
Technically dazzling … Mortimer has the same felicity with language as Jon McGregor, combining an incantatory prose style with imagery so acute it almost burns
* Daily Mail *Ambitious, sprawling … brings to mind Eimear McBride’s A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing … restlessly inventive … delicate and persuasive … sharply funny * Guardian *
It may move between different styles and moods, but underpinning it all is the book’s bursting energy and, in the face of death, its verve for life * i newspaper *
This is a touching, eye-opening perspective on life and illness like you’ve never read before * Good Housekeeping *
Using word placement, font, and shape to create images on the page, Mortimer deepens the reader’s engagement with the story and characters … Through breathtaking attention to detail, Mortimer crafts a stunning novel that touches on the expanses one life can contain * Booklist (starred) *
Maddie Mortimer’s dazzling debut novel about a woman with breast cancer is a life-affirming read - all the more so because of its proximity to death … While there are many books that explore these themes, it is rare to find one that does so in such an immersive and harrowing way * Straits Times *
Maddie Mortimer
Maddie Mortimer was born in London in 1996. She received her BA in English Literature from the University of Bristol. Her writing has featured in The Times and her short films have screened at festivals around the world. She is co-writing a TV series currently in development with Various Artists Ltd. In 2019 she completed the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is her first novel.
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