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The End Of Alice

Exploring the dark side of desire and morality

AM Homes author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Granta Books

Published:1st Apr '21

Should be back in stock very soon

The End Of Alice cover

This gripping novel examines the disturbing intersections of desire and morality. The End Of Alice challenges readers to confront unsettling truths about human nature.

In The End Of Alice, AM Homes explores the unsettling themes of forbidden desire and the dire consequences that follow. The narrative unfolds through the correspondence between two individuals, both drawn to the dark side of human nature. The first is a child-killer, imprisoned for twenty-three years, reflecting on his past as he communicates with a young woman who harbors her own disturbing fantasies. This juxtaposition reveals the complexities of their minds and the societal taboos they navigate.

The novel delves into the psychological turmoil experienced by its characters, capturing the tension between their desires and the moral boundaries they transgress. As the story progresses, the reader is drawn into a world where the lines between right and wrong blur, challenging the notion of evil as something easily defined. The young woman's obsession with seducing a neighborhood boy adds a layer of chilling suspense, forcing readers to confront uncomfortable truths about attraction and manipulation.

Ultimately, The End Of Alice serves as a haunting examination of the darker aspects of human desire, leaving a lasting impression on those who dare to engage with its provocative themes. Homes masterfully navigates the thin line between the American Dream and the American Nightmare, compelling us to reflect on the nature of obsession and the inevitable fallout that ensues.

A.M. Homes never plays it safe and it begins to look as if she can do almost anything -- Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours
If the first major literary marker of the American dream of aspiration, potential and never-ending youth was F. Scott Fitzgerald's lyrical piece of doomed yearning, The Great Gatsby, its postmodern flipside [is] Homes's The End of Alice, whose paired literary voices made a grotesque harmony of two yearners after the dream of youth -- Ali Smith * Guardian *
Homes instructs us about ourselves and shows us what we are blighted with, and cringe from, our compulsions, repressions, longings, glimpses of madness -- Ruth Rendell
With all the cunning and control of a brilliant lover, she takes us places we dare not go alone * Los Angeles Times *
Not all readers will want to see Homes's vision, but those who do will find themselves unmistakably in the presence of the Other * TLS *
Undeniably shocking... Superbly achieved by a writer who is a true artist in words * Vogue *
Chillingly precise and almost beautiful -- Will Self
I recently read [The End of Alice] and thought it was incredible. -- Joe Dunthorne, summer books round up * Observer *

ISBN: 9781783787166

Dimensions: 198mm x 128mm x 18mm

Weight: 181g

256 pages