by SalleyVickers (Author)
The brilliant new novel from the bestselling author of Mr Golightly's Holiday. 'There is no cure for being alive.' Thus speaks Dr David McBride, a psychiatrist for whom death exerts an unusual draw. As a young child he witnessed the death of his six-year-old brother and it is this traumatic event which has shaped his own personality and choice of profession. One day a failed suicide, Elizabeth Cruikshank, is admitted to his hospital. She is unusually reticent and it is not until he recalls a painting by Caravaggio that she finally yields up her story. We learn of Elizabeth Cruikshank's dereliction of trust, and the man she has lost, through David's narration. As her story unfolds David finds his own life being touched by her account and a haunting sense that the 'other side' of his elusive patient has a strange resonance for him, too. Set partly in Rome, The Other Side of You explores the theme of redemption through love and art, which has become a hallmark of Salley Vickers's acclaimed work. As with her other highly popular novels this is a many-layered and subtly audacious story, which traces the boundaries of life and death and the difficult possibilities of repentance.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Published: 03 Apr 2006
ISBN 10: 0007224435
ISBN 13: 9780007224432
Praise for Miss Garnet's Angel:
`Rich, complex and haunting... she makes the ancient story as riveting as Miss Garnet's own adventures' Sunday Times
`Delightfully affecting' Independent Books of the Year
`Writes like a haunted angel' The Times
Praise for `Mr Golightly's Holiday':
`Vickers reproduces conversations about Brazilian bikini waxes, bird watching or metaphysics with a mimic's expertise; paints Dartmoor's scenery with artistry.' Sunday Telegraph
`Full of charm.' Independent on Sunday
'A treat, fun, reflective and, in its very English way, quietly jubilant.' Books of the Year, Sunday Telegraph
Salley Vickers divides her time between London and Venice. Previously a university lecturer in English, when not writing she practices as a psychologist and still lectures widely on the connections between literature, psychology and religion.