The World Was All Before Them

The World Was All Before Them

by Matthew Reynolds (Author)

Synopsis

I am dividing. It is as though I am holding myself cupped in my own hands and I am falling to pieces there, slipping through my fingers. And that is true. That is how we are in the world. We are pieced together out of lots of different bits. It's magical ... There are more than seven billion people on the planet. They have, on average, over 10 billion nerve cells in their brains and 5 litres of blood pumping through their bodies. Their skeletons are made up of 206 bones and their hearts beat approximately 72 times per minute. They are connected to each other in more ways than they can possibly imagine. Philip is one of them. Sue is another. This is their story. It is the story of one year and two lives and what it means to live in them. It is a story about love and courage, risk and betrayal; about the choices we make and the consequences that shape us. It is a story that will make you look at the world with new eyes.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury Circus
Published: 14 Feb 2013

ISBN 10: 1408817969
ISBN 13: 9781408817964
Book Overview: Original, exhilarating and tender, The World Was All Before Them is at once an epic and a miniature, and a mesmerizing exploration of the way we live now

Media Reviews
This extraordinary novel is about the layer of consciousness below the surface ... Disturbingly, stunningly real * Kate Saunders, Saga *
A fascinating, strange and formally delightful novel * Independent on Sunday *
Stylistically ambitious ... This contemplative novel occasionally reaches a more engaging, vibrant pitch * Literary Review *
The author's medical research is exhaustive and judiciously employed ... Reynold's prose is always lucid and elegant ... He negotiates the ethical and practical dilemmas of medicine, and the grey area between creativity and charlatanism in art, with great aplomb * Times Literary Supplement *
`A strikingly original and funny novel, which hits its targets with deadly accuracy. I loved the writing and Alizia's voice ... A winner' * Helen Dunmore on Designs for a Happy Home *
`I read this very engaging book in two sittings. The character of Alizia is really original, funny and touching ... A genuinely original piece of writing and one which I thoroughly enjoyed' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen on Designs for a Happy Home *
`A smart, sparkling read, peeling back the layers of Alizia Tame's seemingly perfect existence to reveal the human truth beneath the surface' * Elle on Designs for a Happy Home *
`An engrossing, clever and funny novel' * Literary Review on Designs for a Happy Home *
Author Bio
Matthew Reynolds is the author of Designs for a Happy Home: A Novel in Ten Interiors. He has also written books of literary criticism and many essays in the LRB and elsewhere. He lived in London, Cambridge, Pisa and Paris before settling in Oxford where he teaches in the university and is a fellow of St Anne's College.