2020 HWA Gold Crown Award (longlist)
THREE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES INTERTWINE ACROSS OCEANS AND TIME
'A stunning, stirring story told with exceptional skill and rare beauty' TERRI WHITE
'Glittering. A triumph.' RACHEL JOYCE
On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.
Taking inspiration from a remarkable true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life.
**LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN 2020**
MORE PRAISE FOR COMING UP FOR AIR:
'Extraordinary.' FRANCIS SPUFFORD
'Vivid, evocative, moving. I loved it' CLAIRE FULLER
'Where breathing becomes drowning, and life teeters on the very edge' MARK HADDON
'Spellbinding and beautifully written.' CARYS BRAY
'Dazzling . . . I savoured every word of its beautiful prose' PRIMA
Genre: Literary Fiction
'A stunning, stirring story told with exceptional skill and rare beauty' TERRI WHITE
'Glittering. A triumph.' RACHEL JOYCE
On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.
Taking inspiration from a remarkable true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life.
**LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN 2020**
MORE PRAISE FOR COMING UP FOR AIR:
'Extraordinary.' FRANCIS SPUFFORD
'Vivid, evocative, moving. I loved it' CLAIRE FULLER
'Where breathing becomes drowning, and life teeters on the very edge' MARK HADDON
'Spellbinding and beautifully written.' CARYS BRAY
'Dazzling . . . I savoured every word of its beautiful prose' PRIMA
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Vivid, evocative, moving. I loved it." - Claire Fuller
"Where breathing becomes drowning, and life teeters on the very edge." - Mark Haddon
"From the first page, I was gripped not only by the scale of the narrative but the sheer fierce beauty of the writing. Here is a novel that dares to cross the boundaries of time, the elements, life and death, and does so with the twists and hooks and magic of a consummate story teller." - Rachel Joyce
"An extraordinary, three-century braid of air and water: the way we float, the way we drown, the way we surface again against the odds." - Francis Spufford
"Where breathing becomes drowning, and life teeters on the very edge." - Mark Haddon
"From the first page, I was gripped not only by the scale of the narrative but the sheer fierce beauty of the writing. Here is a novel that dares to cross the boundaries of time, the elements, life and death, and does so with the twists and hooks and magic of a consummate story teller." - Rachel Joyce
"An extraordinary, three-century braid of air and water: the way we float, the way we drown, the way we surface again against the odds." - Francis Spufford
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Sarah Leipciger's Coming Up For Air