Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011.
Clever and rewarding writing following the lives of four characters and their involvement with a desk, with 19 oddly shaped drawers. In its simplest form it is an emotional discourse on memory and loss. Great House is a story haunted by questions: What do we pass on to our children and how do they absorb our dreams and losses? How do we respond to disappearance, destruction, and change? Nicole Krauss has written a soaring, powerful novel about memory struggling to create a meaningful permanence in the face of inevitable loss. Persevere, it’s well worth the effort.
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011, Nicole Krauss's Great House is a haunting story that explores loss and memory. In New York a woman spends the night with a young Chilean poet before he departs, leaving her at his desk. Later, he is arrested by Pinochet's secret police. . . In north London, a man caring for his dying wife discovers a lock of hair that unravels a terrible secret. . . In Jerusalem, an antiques dealer reassembles his father's study plundered by Nazis. One item remains missing. . . Spanning continents and decades, weaving an intricate web of its characters' lives, Great House tells a soaring story of love, loss and survival against the odds. 'The History of Love was very good indeed. Great House...is even better. A heartbreaking meditation on loss and memory and how they construct our lives' Guardian 'Full of mystery and suspense, building towards one og th great climaxes in contemporary fiction. It is hard to imagine a better book of fiction being published this year...one of the finest writers of our time' Jewish Chronicle 'Bewitching, mysterious and deeply moving. One of 2011's must-reads' Harper's Bazaar Nicole Krauss is an American bestselling author who has received international critical acclaim for her first three novels: Great House, The History of Love (Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006 and winner of the 2006 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger) and Man Walks into a Room (shortlisted for the LA Times Book Award), all of which are available in Penguin paperback.
