August blue

£18.99

‘If she was my double and I was hers, was it true that she was knowing, I was unknowing, she was sane, I was crazy, she was wise, I was foolish? That summer, the air was electric between us as we transmitted our feelings to each other across three countries.’ Elsa M. Anderson is a classical piano virtuoso. In a flea market in Athens, she watches an enigmatic woman buy two mechanical dancing horses. Is it possible that the woman who is so enchanted with the horses is her living double? Is she also looking for reasons to live? Chasing their doubles across Europe, the two women grapple with their conceptions of the world and each other, culminating in a final encounter in a fateful summer rainstorm. A vivid portrait of a long-held identity coming apart, ‘August Blue’ expands our understanding of the ways in which we seek to find ourselves in others and create ourselves anew.

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SKU: 9780241421314 Category: Tag:

Description

The mesmerising new novel from the twice Booker-shortlisted author of Hot Milk and Swimming Home

At the height of her career, concert pianist Elsa M. Anderson – former child prodigy, now in her thirties – walks off the stage in Vienna, mid-performance.

Now she is in Athens, watching as another young woman, a stranger but uncannily familiar – almost her double – purchases a pair of mechanical dancing horses at a flea market. Elsa wants the horses too, but there are no more for sale. She drifts to the ferry port, on the run from her talent and her history.

So begins a journey across Europe, shadowed by the elusive woman who bought the dancing horses.

A dazzling portrait of melancholy and metamorphosis, August Blue uncovers the ways in which we seek to lose an old story, find ourselves in others and create ourselves anew.

‘A writer at the peak of her talents’ Lisa Appignanesi

‘There’s no one touching the brilliance of Deborah Levy’s prose today’ Lee Rourke

‘Levy’s strength is her originality of thought and expression’ Jeanette Winterson

Additional information

Weight 0.377 kg
Dimensions 22.2 × 14.4 × 2.6 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

208

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

813.6 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K