Scenes From Early Life

Author: Philip Hensher

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $19.99 AUD
  • : 9780007450107
  • : HarperCollins Publishers
  • : Fourth Estate Ltd
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  • : November 2012
  • : 197mm X 130mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 19.99
  • : February 2013
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  • : books

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  • : Philip Hensher
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  • : Paperback
  • : Jan-13
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  • : 320
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Barcode 9780007450107
9780007450107

Description

The startling new novel from the author of King of the Badgers and the Man Booker-shortlisted The Northern Clemency. "I was a baby during the war. We stayed inside for months. All my aunts took turns in feeding me. I couldn't be heard to cry. You see, there were soldiers in the streets. They would have known what a crying baby meant. So I had to be kept silent. No, not everyone came out of the war alive." One family's life, and a nation - Bangladesh - are uniquely created through conversation, sacrifice, songs, bonds, blood, bravery and jokes. Narrated by a young boy born into a savage civil war, 'Scenes from Early Life' is a heartbreaking, funny and gripping novel by one of our finest writers.

Reviews

'Beautifully packed with detail ... does for Bangladesh what Salmon Rushdie did for India with Midnight's Children ... It is a remarkable re-creation of a land that most of us know little about' Sunday Times 'This is his most purely pleasurable novel to date' Daily Mail 'Highly impressive ... for all Hensher's accomplished ventriloquism - his ability to inhabit the voice of a Muslim child and a history teacher at the same time - his own voice is not lost ... heart-breaking' Guardian 'A deeply interesting book ... The joins are seamless ... It is inventive, clever and loving; a Booker candidate, I would have thought.' Spectator '...this delightful book shows for the first time what Hensher has largely concealed in the past: his heart' Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday

Author description

Philip Hensher is a columnist for the Independent, arts critic for the Spectator and a Granta Best of Young British novelist. He has written seven novels, including The Mulberry Empire and the Booker-shortlisted The Northern Clemency, and one collection of short stories. He lives in South London.