Bending Heaven

Bending Heaven

by JessicaFrancisKane (Author)

Synopsis

From rainy Paris, to Hyde Park and busy Manhattan, we are plunged right into other people's worlds as characters struggle with the unspoken secrets of relationships and what it means to feel 'at home'. When newly-weds look after a plush house in Washington they get carried away re-designing a home that isn't theirs. In 'First Sale' a boy helplessly watches his mother attempt a new start by selling off all their belongings; and in 'Evidence of Old Repairs', a mother's need, both at home and abroad, is almost too much for her daughter to bear. In New York a publicist almost loses the will to live, while in Seattle an author has a paralysing fear of exposure. These are graceful, varied and exciting stories where characters constantly attempt new beginnings, setting out with heartfelt resolutions that are sometimes humorous, often calamitous. As the characters shift lives, loves and homes there are enduring predicaments - how do we reconcile the anguish of understanding ourselves all too well, and master the trick of balancing dreams against a lack of faith in the future?

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Published: 05 Jun 2003

ISBN 10: 0701175176
ISBN 13: 9780701175177
Book Overview: In this accomplished debut collection of stories Kane, as good as Lorrie Moore or a young Alice Munro, displays a talent for gripping and intimate stories about the nature of expectation and dealing with the untidiness of life.

Media Reviews
Perceptive, poignant and wise * John O'Farrell *
Neat, sharp, observant, and with a good ear, so that she hits the note every time...She's discerned the enormous gap between what people say and do, and what is actually going on inside them, and in that gap she moves swiftly and nimbly...An author to watch. * Hilary Mantel *
Author Bio
Jessica Francis Kane was born in 1971, and has lived in New York City, Washington DC and, recently, in London where some of these stories are set. She now lives in Virginia with her husband. She is currently writing a novel which Chatto plan to publish in 2004.