2019 Fitzcarraldo Novel Prize (shortlist)
* A New Statesman Most Anticipated Title for 2023 *
From an award-winning Scottish poet, an unforgettable novel about memory and radical forgiveness
How far would you go to overcome the limits of your own forgiveness?
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, who invites Quinn to share her home.
It soon becomes apparent that what appears to be a genuine act of forgiveness is influenced by more complex motivations. As they navigate the thorny terrain of guilt, justice and mutual need that underpins their relationship, the story of Quinn's past is gradually revealed, setting in motion a final reckoning.
Em Strang's first novel is a hypnotic rendering of an unravelling mind and a visceral story about the very limits of forgiveness.
Genre: Literary Fiction
From an award-winning Scottish poet, an unforgettable novel about memory and radical forgiveness
How far would you go to overcome the limits of your own forgiveness?
Quinn is serving a life sentence for a crime he's convinced he hasn't committed. Surely the authorities have got it wrong, and when they find his childhood sweetheart, Andrea, his name will be cleared. His parole is drawing near when he receives an unexpected letter from Andrea's mother, who invites Quinn to share her home.
It soon becomes apparent that what appears to be a genuine act of forgiveness is influenced by more complex motivations. As they navigate the thorny terrain of guilt, justice and mutual need that underpins their relationship, the story of Quinn's past is gradually revealed, setting in motion a final reckoning.
Em Strang's first novel is a hypnotic rendering of an unravelling mind and a visceral story about the very limits of forgiveness.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Quinn is a fascinating fever dream of a book. Guilt, redemption, memory and fantasy are shattered and rebuilt into a strange kaleidoscope, a compelling personal narrative from a deeply broken man. What a novelistic debut from Em Strang." - A L Kennedy
"Em Strang's is a true voice, and Quinn is that rarity, an original work of fiction, which excavates trauma and memory and refuses the frameworks placed on it. This book is its own landscape. Strange and powerful." - Paul Kingsnorth
"Em Strang's is a true voice, and Quinn is that rarity, an original work of fiction, which excavates trauma and memory and refuses the frameworks placed on it. This book is its own landscape. Strange and powerful." - Paul Kingsnorth
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