The Beautiful Indifference
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
'Fierce and sensuous.' Guardian
'Exquisitely crafted.' Sunday Telegraph
'Astonishing . . . A writer of rare vision and talent.' Sunday Times
From the speed and heat of summer London, to the heathered fells and lowlands of Cumbria with their history of smouldering violence, to an eerily still lake in the Finnish wilderness, Sarah Hall evokes landscapes with extraordinary precision and grace.
The characters within these territories are real-life survivors, but whether it's a frustrated housewife seeking extreme experience or a young woman contemplating the death of her lover, dark devices and desires rise to the surface. And the human body, too - flawed, visceral, and full of emotional conflict - provides a sensuous frame for each unfolding drama.
Uniquely disturbing and deeply erotic, this collection confirms Sarah Hall as one of the greatest writers of her generation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In seven scenic stories, characters reflect on the tumultuous moments of their lives while away from home. When capturing the self-reflective morass that people face when making tough decisions, Hall is at her best. In the title story, an author on a weekend getaway waits for her younger lover in her hotel room. He's late, giving her time to replay their history and recall past conversations and decisions. Too nervous to read, she comes to the conclusion that, despite being a writer, she dislikes books. "Reading was an affirmation of being alone, of being separate, trapped." Characters in other stories echo this sentiment. In "She Murdered Mortal Me," a relationship sours during a South African vacation. A woman leaves her jungle bungalow and a brewing fight to walk the beach, haunted by fears of abandonment and rumors of leopards in the trees. Such psychologically charged situations provide opportunities for Hall to venture into contrived oversentimentality; but she never does. Stories begin without preamble, in the middle of scenes, momentum already building. Hall is in complete control, playing with the reader's expectations at every turn, mirroring the unmoored state her characters all inhabit. An unassuming, tightly woven debut collection.
