The Professor of Poetry
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Hodder & Stoughton
Published:13th Mar '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This novel follows Elizabeth Stone, a cancer survivor returning to her university to explore T. S. Eliot's papers. As she reconnects with the past, she confronts love, fear, and creativity.
The Professor of Poetry is a captivating novel by Grace McCleen, acclaimed author of The Land of Decoration. The story follows Elizabeth Stone, a respected academic who, after achieving remission from cancer, returns to her university city over thirty years after her student days. Elizabeth is on a quest to explore little-known papers by T. S. Eliot, convinced that they hold the key to her own literary masterpiece. This journey is not just a professional endeavor; it also rekindles her connection with the enigmatic Professor Hunt, who once gifted her a poem that has lingered in her memory since she was eighteen.
As Elizabeth navigates her familiar surroundings, she is confronted with the echoes of her past filled with loneliness, longing, and unexpressed love. Her rekindled friendship with Professor Hunt brings both comfort and turmoil, forcing her to confront her fears of inadequacy and the weight of unfulfilled potential. The narrative delves deep into her psyche as she grapples with the challenge of creating something meaningful while battling the haunting fear of producing work that she deems worthless.
McCleen masterfully captures the essence of place and the complexities of human emotion, creating a rich tapestry that is both profound and hypnotic. The Professor of Poetry offers an unflinching portrayal of a character who is at once relatable and deeply flawed. This novel resonates long after the final page, leaving readers to ponder the intersections of art, love, and the personal struggles that define us.
An astonishing and luminous novel . . . every line is newly felt and freshly experienced. The reader is kept guessing: is this an emotional farce and an intellectual tragedy, or is it the opposite? The novel's ironies are multiple and stinging . . . Grace McCleen is an author who, with only her second novel, is setting her own clever agenda. She is a finished artist, but performs on the page with all the aerial grace of someone who senses no limits to what she can do. * Hilary Mantel *
Moving and beautiful . . . this is a remarkable piece of work, empathetic, intelligent and genuinely poetic * Spectator *
Enchanting . . . An utterly fascinating piece for poetry-lovers, and also an extremely poignant read. * Book of the Month, Image *
A grand tragedy with an intimate focus . . . for those who readers sympathetic to Anne's regrets in Jane Austen's Persuasion, or who find richness in the academic wrangling of AS Byatt's literary sleuths and lovers in Possession, there is much here to adore. McCleen's manipulation of suspense is extraordinary - hope for Elizabeth's enlightenment lurks in the shadows of her insecurities and emotional blind spots, and exploration of these dark places renders the novel sinewy with tension . . . her Prufrock-like world is painted with bewitching vitality . . . the narrative sweeps with a sumptuous musicality. * Financial Times *
Her new novel catapults her into the literary big league . . . McCleen invests this ostensibly dry subject matter with enormous poignancy and eroticism * Mail on Sunday *
An intricate tapestry in which past and present mingle to mesmerising effect . . . what eloquence! There are sentences here of such agile cleverness, charged with wit and beauty and enchantment. * Observer *
It's McCleen's unflinching dedication to detail that will enchant readers. This novel has obviously been pored over, cherished and perfected . . . [her] graceful weaving through the present and past of her main character produces an intriguing - and original - story. * Stylist *
McCleen doesn't make Elizabeth easy to like and this is part of the professor's charm. She doesn't "do" summer, most definitely does not do love poetry, and would like to teach Virginia Woolf a thing or two about semicolons . . . an intricate tapestry in which past and present mingle to mesmerising effect . . . what eloquence! There are sentences here of such agile cleverness, charged with wit and beauty and enchantment. * Guardian *
- Short-listed for Encore Award 2013 (UK)
ISBN: 9781444769982
Dimensions: 196mm x 133mm x 20mm
Weight: 243g
304 pages