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The Chimes

The Chimes

by Anna Smaill (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2015

    $6.11
Synopsis

MAN BOOKER PRIZE LONGLIST 2015

A Bookseller Best Debut of 2015

One to Watch 2015 Huffington Post

An Amazon Rising Star

'The Chimes is a remarkable debut. It's inventive, beautifully written, and completely absorbing. I highly recommend it.' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds

A mind-expanding literary debut composed of memory, music and imagination.

A boy stands on the roadside on his way to London, alone in the rain.

No memories, beyond what he can hold in his hands at any given moment.

No directions, as written words have long since been forbidden.

No parents - just a melody that tugs at him, a thread to follow. A song that says if he can just get to the capital, he may find some answers about what happened to them.

The world around Simon sings, each movement a pulse of rhythm, each object weaving its own melody, music ringing in every drop of air.

*

Welcome to the world of The Chimes. Here, life is orchestrated by a vast musical instrument that renders people unable to form new memories. The past is a mystery, each new day feels the same as the last, and before is blasphony.

But slowly, inexplicably, Simon is beginning to remember. He emerges from sleep each morning with a pricking feeling, and sense there is something he urgently has to do. In the city Simon meets Lucien, who has a gift for hearing, some secrets of his own, and a theory about the danger lurking in Simon's past.
A stunning debut composed of memory, music, love and freedom, The Chimes pulls you into a world that will captivate, enthral and inspire.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 304
 Edition: 0
 Publisher: Sceptre
Published: 12 Feb 2015
ISBN 10: 1444794531
ISBN 13: 9781444794533
Book Overview: A stunning literary debut by 34-year-old poet and violinist Anna Smaill, The Chimes is a startlingly original work that combines unique prose with incredible imagination.

Media Reviews
WINNER OF THE 2016 WORLD FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL AND NOMINATED FOR THE 2015 MAN BOOKER PRIZE
To call The Chimes striking is I dare say to underplay what might be the most distinctive debut of the decade. * Tor.com *
SUPERB... intriguing, ambitious and strikingly written. * James Kidd, Independent on Sunday *
The Chimes is a remarkable debut. It's inventive, beautifully written, and completely absorbing. I highly recommend it. * Kevin Powers, author of THE YELLOW BIRDS *
A genuinely originalnovel that has all the tension of a well-told, gripping thriller, but which is elevated well above the ordinary by its shining, lyrical language. The author has created a believable, consistent and vivid world... * Clare Morrall *
Cleverly orchestrated and poignantly conveyed throughout. * Guardian *
The novel is hypnotic, melancholic and requires concentration, but it builds to an incredibly tense and emotionally satisfying climax that rewards all the effort. * Elle *
Smaill is a former musician with a book of poetry already to her name. The Chimes has strong echoes of both these influences as we're taken on a strange and lyrical journey through a dystopian England . . . The intrinsic links between music and memory suffuse this dreamy narrative . . . the idiosyncratic world [that] Smaill has lovingly created using melodic and musical syntax - her narrative style brimming with invention and nuance. * The Big Issue *
The pleasure lies in getting to grips with the rules of this eerie dystopia and the unusual vocabulary Smaill has minted to describe it. * Metro *
Atmospheric, intensely-imagined strangeness * Daily Mail *
Strangely compelling * Sainsbury's Magazine *
A dazzling debut piece of fantasy that marries great writing with compelling narrative. And the world Smaill has invented, where memory has been replaced by music and people cling to objects that link them to their pasts, is brilliantly imagined.... a serious book with serious talent behind it. * New Zealand Herald *
Atmospheric, intensely-imagined strangeness * Daily Mail *
Magical, tender, thought provoking and stunningly imaginative. * Lindsay Hawdon, author of JAKOB'S COLOURS *
Dystopian fiction but not quite as we know it... Smaill's particular melodious inventiveness makes her story her own. * Independent *
Anna Smail's ambition fiction debut is a strange, compelling tale; full of musical metaphors and striking imagery, it is wildly imaginative and challenging. * Choice Magazine *
An exciting debut, a book full of rhythm, energy and melody... There's no doubt Smaill has created a distinctive and impressive debut, one that dares to create its own music. * The List *
An enthralling read. * The Lady *
lyrical debut * Sunday Express *
This is a story that rivets us from the beginning but, for those wanting more, there are delicious depths that change an excellent story into an equally excellent thought provoking fable. As if that isn't enough, it also convinces us that Anna is a very clever lady. ... hugely compelling ... Oh yes, this is definitely a 'Wow!' book. * The Bookbag *

For a story about music, The Chimes is a triumph on the printed page.

* SFX Magazine *
Cleverly orchestrated * Guardian *
Entrancingly poetic and engagingly plotted, this is a story that brims with heart and soul. * Kirkus reviews *
Author Bio
Anna Smaill is a classically trained violinist and published poet. Born in Auckland in 1979, she holds an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters (Wellington), an MA in English Literature from the University of Auckland and a PhD in contemporary American poetry from University College London. She is the author of one book of poetry (The Violinist in Spring, VUP 2005) and her poems have been published and anthologised in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She has lived and worked in both Tokyo and London, and now lives in New Zealand with her husband, novelist Carl Shuker, and their daughter.