Hurry - Only 2 left in stock!
|
'China's MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN. Utterly remarkable' INDEPENDENT- Betrayal and intrigue in China lived again and again by a Beijing taxi driver across a thousand years.
Susan Barker grew up in east London. While writing The Incarnations she spent several years living in Beijing, researching imperial and modern China. She lives in London. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKBarker
Reads as China's Midnight's Children. Utterly remarkable
*The Independent*
An extraordinary novel. Erudite, intriguing and compulsively
readable, THE INCARNATIONS takes the reader on an intimate and
mesmerizing journey through Chinese history. Susan Barker, a born
story-teller, has written one of the most remarkable novels of
recent years.
*JOHN BOYNE*
A thrilling journey through a thousand years of obsession and
betrayal and a vivid tapestry of the individual's struggle against
the tyranny of history, this is the most extraordinary work of
imagination you'll read all year
*ADAM JOHNSON, WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013*
A brilliant, mind-expanding and wildly original novel
*CHRIS CLEAVE*
What a ferociously talented writer Susan Barker is. The
Incarnations is a hallucinatory ride. Highly recommend
*ANNA HOPE, Author of WAKE*
Remarkable - ambitious in scope, painstakingly researched and most
importantly, a gripping read.
*Publishing Perspectives*
Letters from someone who claims to have known him for 1,000 years
unsettle a cabbie.
*The Observer*
A MUST-READ - July picks
*Marie-Claire Magazine*
Ambitious in scope, scholarly in depth, and absolutely rivetting
...Sure to make an impact and she deserves all the praise - and
most likely prize(s) - that will follow.
*South China Post*
Light and often witty ...There is tragedy, though perhaps not where
the reader expects it, but there is also hope.
*www.thatsmags.com China*
Invigorating. To recreate convincingly a single historical period
is an achievement. To recreate six is to approach virtuosity ...
Deft, smart, various and warm: a very good book indeed.
*Sunday Business Post, Ireland*
Multi-layered and masterful. Suspend your disbelief, flow along
with this wonderful book.
*Guardian*
Stunning. Moving between Wang's many pasts, all of them thrilling,
gruesome, and tragic, and Wang's increasingly desperate present,
Barker's historical tour de force is simultaneously sweeping and
precise. Barker's psychologically nuanced characters and sharp wit
turn the bleakness and the gore into something seriously moving.
Effortlessly blends the past with the present, dark humour with
profound sadness. A deeply human masterpiece.
*Kirkus*
Not since Jung Chang's WILD SWANS has there been such a visceral
re-telling of the old days.
*Open Magazine, India*
Barker resembles David Mitchell in the ability to weave together
past and present in a convincing, and ultimately intriguing,
manner
*Sydney Morning Herald*
China reels with tension
*LA Review*
This is a beautifully structured novel, and the interspersed
letters describing previous lives are engrossing and sharp. These
past lives are too real to feel like mere metaphor. Cruelty,
betrayal and slavery reoccur over the centuries, and are echoed in
Wang’s modern life.
The prose is light and often witty, and the characterization is one
of the book’s most impressive aspects… This is an extremely
satisfying and intelligent book
*That’s Shanghai*
A wonderful piece of historical/fantasy/suspense fiction unlike
anything else I've read... Constantly unpredictable and
surprising
*Goodreads*
Barker is a phenomenal storyteller. She time-travels seamlessly
from the Tang Dynasty in AD 632 to contemporary Beijing and each
snippet of each incarnation, rich in convincing detail, is utterly
mesmerising
*Goodreads*
Barker has created a set of characters who jump off the page and
Wang's heartrending story is sensitively told
*madabouthebooks.co.uk*
Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, and literary
classics, The Incarnations is a taut and gripping novel that sheds
light on the cyclical nature of history and it hints that the past
is never truly settled.
*Fantastic Fiction*
Remarkable... a time-bending fantasy with an unknown (and possibly
unreliable) narrator sweeping us down the rabbit hole of
history
*http://granitestudio.org/*
Vivid and engaging
*Asia Review of Books*
The Incarnations is so many stories wrapped into one astounding
tale, and the end result is nothing short of a masterpiece. Susan
Barker takes us on a breathtaking tour of China's chequered
history, and her literary prowess is a thing of beauty.
*aworldchild.co.uk*
The best English-language novel about China I have ever read.
*Shenzhen Stuff*
Engaging, poetic and lyrical... Individually, the historical
chapters are compelling, interesting short stories; together you
have a novel I want to read with a book club and discuss, discuss,
discuss
*The Star Online*
Balances past and present, the grand sweep of history and the
intensely personal, all wrapped up in brisk and densely evocative
prose. You can never quite be sure where Wang's story is going to
turn next - not even after a thousand years.
*welovethisbook.com*
A towering, sweeping ode
*thatsmag.com*
So alive, so visceral. Every incarnation is raw and vicious. Just
amazing. For fans of David Mitchell and Murakami
*Time Out Bookstore NZ*
Barker is a brilliant prose stylist and this book should be read
out loud. Even some of the most minor details are charged with
social and historical insight... a genuine page turner that brings
it all together quite unlike any other book about China published
in the past decade.
*thenanfang.com*
Page-turning. A very memorable read.
*Publishers Weekly*
Page-turning. A very memorable read.
*Publishers Weekly*
Engrossing. Barker's writing is fluid, and the plotlines and
characterizations found in her historical tales, while dark and
sinister, are nonetheless intriguing. Misunderstandings abound
throughout the novel to unravel the past that collides intensely
with the present, ultimately leading to a disquieting finale.
*Library Journal*
Dazzling ... her natural storytelling gifts shine from every
paragraph
*NEW YORK TIMES*
Brutal yet seductive, this journey through the darkest parts of the
human spirit will leave readers with chills running down their
spines.
*SHELF AWARENESS*
Barker skilfully combines history, the supernatural and the
everyday in a novel that suggests the apst is never really past,
while providing a cracking good read.
*BOOKPAGE*
A deeply human masterpiece.
*KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW*
[A] kaleidoscopically imaginative novel…Barker stitches together an
unnervingly perceptive portrait of China and of the enduring
influence that its past has on the present.
*The New Yorker*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |