Monday, October 27, 2014

THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS - MICHEL FABER



A monumental, genre-defying novel over a decade in the making.
In his first full-length novel since 2002’s million copy bestselling Victorian epic The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber explores love and the search for meaning in an unfathomable universe in The Book of Strange New Things.

It begins with Peter, a devoted man of faith, as he is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Bea.

Peter becomes immersed in the mysteries of an astonishing new environment, overseen by an enigmatic corporation known only as USIC. His work introduces him to a seemingly friendly native population struggling with a dangerous illness and hungry for Peter’s teachings – his Bible is their “book of strange new things.”

But Peter is rattled when Bea’s letters from home become increasingly desperate: typhoons and earthquakes are devastating whole countries, and governments are crumbling. Bea’s faith, once the guiding light of their lives, begins to falter.

Suddenly, a separation measured by an otherworldly distance, and defined both by one newly discovered world and another in a state of collapse, is threatened by an ever-widening gulf that is much less quantifiable.  While Peter is reconciling the needs of his congregation with the desires of his strange employer, Bea is struggling for survival. 


Their trials lay bare a profound meditation on faith, love tested beyond endurance, and our responsibility to those closest to us, marked by the same bravura storytelling and precise language that made The Crimson Petal and the White such a success. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michel Faber has written eight books. In addition to the Whitbread-shortlisted Under the Skin (adapted into a feature film in 2014), he is the author of the highly acclaimed The Crimson Petal and the White, The Fire Gospel and The Fahrenheit Twins. He has also written two novellas, The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps and The Courage Consort, and has won several short-story awards, including the Neil Gunn, Ian St James and Macallan. Born in Holland and brought up in Australia, he now lives in the Scottish Highlands.

PUBLISHED: 22 October 2013
IMPRINT: Canongate
CATEGORY: Literary Fiction Extent: 560 pp RRP: $29.99 Ebook available

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