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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