GRAHAM SWIFT was born in 1949 and is the author of ten novels; two collections of short stories; and Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. With Waterland he won The Guardian Fiction Award, and with Last Orders the Booker Prize. Both novels have since been made into films. His work has appeared in more than thirty languages.
"A demonstration of what this Booker winner can do."
--Ron Charles, The Washington Post
"Save some tissues for Graham Swift's latest, an exquisite,
emotionally resonant romance."
--Entertainment Weekly "Intense . . . the lush, sorroful prose
gives considerable pleasure."
--Sophie Gee, The New York Times Book Review "Graham Swift's slim,
incantatory new book is one of those deceptively spare tales (like
Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending) that punch well above their
weight. . . . More than just a story about crossing 'impossible
barriers' like class and education it is a love song to books, and
to finding words, language, and a voice. . . . It is a book you'll
want to read more than once--and then urge on your friends."
--Heller McAlpin, NPR "Swift accomplishes a great deal in such a
tight narrative. . . . A sort of deeper Downton Abbey . . . It can
be read in a sitting or two, and could make your day."
--Robert Cremins, Minneapolis Star Tribune "Mothering Sunday is a
dazzling read: sexy, stylish, subversive. You finish it and
immediately read it again."
--Jackie McGlone, The Herald (Scotland) "A kind of feminist
Cinderella . . . haunting . . . possesses a new emotional
intensity."
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "In examining Jane's fears
and her joys, her dreams and her dreads, Swift captures--in all its
complexity--what it means to love someone you know will hurt you.
But Mothering Sunday is about more than that. It is about every
unrealized future, about 'all the scenes that never occur, but wait
in the wings of possibility' . . . a touching, profound and--above
all--intimate portrayal of a relationship from the perspective of a
woman whom it indelibly changed."
--Drew Schwartz, Readers Digest "Powerful . . . dazzling . . .
beautifully written and carefully observed, redolent with
genuine--and often contradictory--emotion. . . . Swift is a master
of subtlety, of the meaningful nuance, the casual gesture, the
break in speech. Mothering Sunday is a masterpiece of
understatement, of fundamental human truth and the simplicity, and
significance, of single moments. It's a stunning achievement, one
woman's story explored through the events of a single day that
served as a door opening to her future."
--Robert J. Wiersema, National Post (Toronto) "A magnificent book,
a small miracle . . . an intricate examination of our notions of
love and sex, class and gender, fact and fiction and the act of
memory itself . . . Exposing the extraordinary within the
unexceptional has always been Swift's genius. And so it is here. .
. . Understated and enthralling, a majestic performance."
--Stephen Finucan, Toronto Star "A short yet powerful and
intricately layered work . . . engaging and exquisite . . . It may
not be Swift's meatiest book, but with every sentence counting, and
not a word out of place, it is his most perfectly formed."
--Malcolm Forbes, The Australian "Masterful . . . [Swift] performs
a complex enough conjuring trick, creating a perfect small tragedy
with all the spring and tension of a short story, spinning around
it a century of consequences with so light a touch that they only
brush against the charmed centre. . . . Mothering Sunday is both a
dissection of the nature of fiction and a gripping story; a private
catastrophe played out in the quiet drawing rooms of the English
upper middle-class, the drama that unfolds is all the more potent
for its containment. . . . The narrative . . . accumulates the
saturated erotic intensity of a Donne sonnet. . . . Mothering
Sunday is bathed in light; and even when tragedy strikes, it blazes
irresistibly. . . . Swift's small fiction feels like a
masterpiece."
--Christobel Kent, The Guardian "An almost musical quality, like a
Bach prelude and fugue reworking and reinventing themes and ideas .
. . both unsettling and deeply affecting. Mothering Sunday is a
powerful, philosophical and exquisitely observed novel about the
lives we lead, and the parallel lives--the parallel stories--we can
never know. . . . It may just be Swift's best novel yet."
--Hannah Beckerman, The Observer (London) "Love and death and much
in between are expertly handled in this short but powerful
novella."
--Harry Ritchie, The Daily Mail (London) "Swift has written a book
that is not just his most moving and intricate but his most
engrossing, too."
--Leo Robson, Financial Times "This is the story of a woman's
becoming, as she discovers her power and possibility. It is a lot
to pack into such a slim and tidy volume. But for all the detailed
examination of character and the bold sweep of time, there is not a
word wasted. . . . A lesson in poetic brevity . . . There is a
lulling quality to the movement between sections of the
book--rhythms and repetitions, the ebb and flow of a tide, the
wearing down of rock to form sand on a beach. . . . This is a rare
read indeed."
--Ellah Allfrey, The Spectator "A dazzling novel . . . beautiful .
. . A vanished world is resurrected with superb immediacy. The
shires gentry and their servants move around the pages with solid
authenticity. . . . Wonderfully accomplished."
--Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times (London) "This deceptively short,
sexy novel reflects on big themes . . . Proustian . . . reminiscent
of Edward Thomas's great poem 'Adlestrop' . . . a Conradian homage
to a wellspring of inspiration."
--James Runcie, The Independent "From start to finish Swift's is a
novel of stylish brilliance and quiet narrative verve. . . . Swift
is a writer at the very top of his game."
--Ian Thomson, Evening Standard
"Mothering Sunday recommends itself as an antidote to the cloying
sentimentalities of Downton."
--John Sutherland, The Times (London) "A perfect gem of a novel.
With his unmistakable gift for detailed exactitude and emotional
subtlety, Swift lightly touches on weighty issues of loss and
abandonment, boldness and survival. The antidote to Downton Abbey's
prolonged manor-house soap opera, Swift's succinct rags-to-riches
tale of a young woman's unexpected metamorphosis is a rich and
nuanced evocation of an innocent yet titillating time."
--Carol Haggas, Booklist (starred review) "This elegiac tale offers
a haunting portrait of lives in a world in transition. . . .
[Swift's] depiction of a fragile caste clinging to traditions that
define their sense of noblesse oblige while struggling to bear the
era's crushing burden of 'accumulated loss and grief' is poignant
and moving--as is his intimation of a brilliant personal destiny
that rises from the ashes of a tragically bygone social order."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Sly humor and sensual detail
. . . Jane is a marvelous creation who can seam wry, world-weary,
innocent, or lusty. Swift has fun with language, with class
conventions, and with narrative expectations in a novel where
nothing is as simple or obvious as it seems at first."
--Kirkus (starred review) "This is a book about tales, and about
time; about fictional truth and the fiction-making we call memory,
and about words, 'an invisible skin, enwrapping the world and
giving it reality.' The world would exist without words, but tales
and memory--would not. . . . The book's subtitle is 'A Romance, '
and undeniably it is one. On length alone it will be called a
novella. By whatever name one might call it, it is a masterpiece,
as indelible as only the best tales are."
--Keshava Guha, The Hindu "Swift's pristine gentle prose speaks to
us about class in many senses--money, lineage, gender--but it
speaks softly. It speaks also of memory, about truth and about
knowing the truth."
--Sandipan Deb, India Today
A demonstration of what this Booker winner can do.
Ron Charles, The Washington Post
Save some tissues for Graham Swift s latest, an exquisite,
emotionally resonant romance.
Entertainment Weekly
"Intense . . . the lush, sorroful prose gives considerable
pleasure."
Sophie Gee, The New York Times Book Review
Graham Swift s slim, incantatory new book is one of those
deceptively spare tales (like Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending)
that punch well above their weight. . . . More than just a story
about crossing impossible barriers like class and education it is a
love song to books, and to finding words, language, and a voice. .
. . It is a book you ll want to read more than once and then urge
on your friends.
Heller McAlpin, NPR
Swift accomplishes a great deal in such a tight narrative. . . . A
sort of deeper Downton Abbey . . . It can be read in a sitting or
two, and could make your day.
Robert Cremins, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Mothering Sunday is a dazzling read: sexy, stylish, subversive. You
finish it and immediately read it again.
Jackie McGlone, The Herald (Scotland)
A kind of feminist Cinderella . . . haunting . . . possesses a new
emotional intensity.
Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
In examining Jane s fears and her joys, her dreams and her dreads,
Swift captures in all its complexity what it means to love someone
you know will hurt you. But Mothering Sunday is about more than
that. It is about every unrealized future, about all the scenes
that never occur, but wait in the wings of possibility . . . a
touching, profound and above all intimate portrayal of a
relationship from the perspective of a woman whom it indelibly
changed.
Drew Schwartz, Readers Digest
Powerful . . . dazzling . . . beautifully written and carefully
observed, redolent with genuine and often contradictory emotion. .
. . Swift is a master of subtlety, of the meaningful nuance, the
casual gesture, the break in speech. Mothering Sunday is a
masterpiece of understatement, of fundamental human truth and the
simplicity, and significance, of single moments. It s a stunning
achievement, one woman s story explored through the events of a
single day that served as a door opening to her future.
Robert J. Wiersema, National Post (Toronto)
A magnificent book, a small miracle . . . an intricate examination
of our notions of love and sex, class and gender, fact and fiction
and the act of memory itself . . . Exposing the extraordinary
within the unexceptional has always been Swift s genius. And so it
is here. . . . Understated and enthralling, a majestic
performance.
Stephen Finucan, Toronto Star
A short yet powerful and intricately layered work . . . engaging
and exquisite . . . It may not be Swift s meatiest book, but with
every sentence counting, and not a word out of place, it is his
most perfectly formed.
Malcolm Forbes, The Australian
Masterful . . . [Swift] performs a complex enough conjuring trick,
creating a perfect small tragedy with all the spring and tension of
a short story, spinning around it a century of consequences with so
light a touch that they only brush against the charmed centre. . .
. Mothering Sunday is both a dissection of the nature of fiction
and a gripping story; a private catastrophe played out in the quiet
drawing rooms of the English upper middle-class, the drama that
unfolds is all the more potent for its containment. . . . The
narrative . . . accumulates the saturated erotic intensity of a
Donne sonnet. . . . Mothering Sunday is bathed in light; and even
when tragedy strikes, it blazes irresistibly. . . . Swift s small
fiction feels like a masterpiece.
Christobel Kent, The Guardian
An almost musical quality, like a Bach prelude and fugue reworking
and reinventing themes and ideas . . . both unsettling and deeply
affecting. Mothering Sunday is a powerful, philosophical and
exquisitely observed novel about the lives we lead, and the
parallel lives the parallel stories we can never know. . . . It may
just be Swift s best novel yet.
Hannah Beckerman, The Observer (London)
Love and death and much in between are expertly handled in this
short but powerful novella.
Harry Ritchie, The Daily Mail (London)
Swift has written a book that is not just his most moving and
intricate but his most engrossing, too.
Leo Robson, Financial Times
This is the story of a woman s becoming, as she discovers her power
and possibility. It is a lot to pack into such a slim and tidy
volume. But for all the detailed examination of character and the
bold sweep of time, there is not a word wasted. . . . A lesson in
poetic brevity . . . There is a lulling quality to the movement
between sections of the book rhythms and repetitions, the ebb and
flow of a tide, the wearing down of rock to form sand on a beach. .
. . This is a rare read indeed.
Ellah Allfrey, The Spectator
A dazzling novel . . . beautiful . . . A vanished world is
resurrected with superb immediacy. The shires gentry and their
servants move around the pages with solid authenticity. . . .
Wonderfully accomplished.
Peter Kemp, The Sunday Times (London)
This deceptively short, sexy novel reflects on big themes . . .
Proustian . . . reminiscent of Edward Thomas s great poem Adlestrop
. . . a Conradian homage to a wellspring of inspiration.
James Runcie, The Independent
From start to finish Swift s is a novel of stylish brilliance and
quiet narrative verve. . . . Swift is a writer at the very top of
his game.
Ian Thomson, Evening Standard
Mothering Sunday recommends itself as an antidote to the cloying
sentimentalities of Downton.
John Sutherland, The Times (London)
A perfect gem of a novel. With his unmistakable gift for detailed
exactitude and emotional subtlety, Swift lightly touches on weighty
issues of loss and abandonment, boldness and survival. The antidote
toDownton Abbey sprolonged manor-house soap opera, Swift s succinct
rags-to-riches tale of a young woman s unexpected metamorphosis is
a rich and nuanced evocation of an innocent yet titillating
time.
Carol Haggas, Booklist(starred review)
This elegiac tale offers a haunting portrait of lives in a world in
transition. . . . [Swift s] depiction of a fragile caste clinging
to traditions that define their sense of noblesse oblige while
struggling to bear the era s crushing burden of accumulated loss
and grief is poignant and moving as is his intimation of a
brilliant personal destiny that rises from the ashes of a
tragically bygone social order.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Sly humor and sensual detail . . . Jane is a marvelous creation who
can seam wry, world-weary, innocent, or lusty. Swift has fun with
language, with class conventions, and with narrative expectations
in a novel where nothing is as simple or obvious as it seems at
first.
Kirkus (starred review)
This is a book about tales, and about time; about fictional truth
and the fiction-making we call memory, and about words, an
invisible skin, enwrapping the world and giving it reality. The
world would exist without words, but tales and memory would not. .
. . The book s subtitle is A Romance, and undeniably it is one. On
length alone it will be called a novella. By whatever name one
might call it, it is a masterpiece, as indelible as only the best
tales are.
Keshava Guha, The Hindu
Swift s pristine gentle prose speaks to us about class in many
senses money, lineage, gender but it speaks softly. It speaks also
of memory, about truth and about knowing the truth.
Sandipan Deb, India Today"
Ask a Question About this Product More... |