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What Will Survive of Us

Howard Jacobson author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:1st Feb '24

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What Will Survive of Us cover

Love can change your life. Can it survive marriage and middle age?

'A rare gift and one to be treasured' SUNDAY TIMES

‘A profound and vital book’ WILLIAM BOYD

'Equal parts funny and challenging' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Lily falls in love with Sam the minute she sets eyes on him. It takes Sam a day or two longer. Curious, because Lily – independent, headstrong, rational – has never quite believed in love; while Sam – confident, passionate, romantic – thought he understood it inside out.

Lily is an award-winning television documentary maker. Sam is an award-winning playwright. Both are in relationships that have quietly expired, but their encounter makes Lily and Sam come alive again. As they begin to work together on the page and on screen, an affair takes hold that they are powerless to resist.

Arriving in mid-life, their relationship opens unexpected new worlds and, for Lily, offers her a surprising form of liberation. But what will happen to them when familiarity, illness and age begin to take their toll? What will survive? Taking us to the edge of desire, love and betrayal across a lifetime, What Will Survive of Us reveals what is left of us when we strip away every layer.

A tender love story... Jacobson’s sentences have always been things of beauty: ornate yet vigorous * Daily Telegraph *
A rare gift and one to be treasured * Sunday Times *
Something more subtle and melancholy than expected. In the best possible way, fans of Jacobson will not be disappointed * Observer *
Essential human truths are conveyed through humour, melancholy and kinetic dialogue * Mail on Sunday *
Equal parts funny and challenging, this is a clear-eyed view of long-term love * Daily Telegraph *
A wonderfully wise, moving and heartfelt novel. A profound and vital book -- William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart
Howard Jacobson at his finest. An intense expression of romantic love and sexual desire -- Linda Grant, author of The Story of the Forest
Jacobson has lost none of his garrulity and ebullienceWhat Will Survive of Us powers along with stretches of nimble verbal exchange in which the opponents are equally matched. And you're never far from a profound reflection on life's challenges * Literary Review *
Funny, self-knowing and floridly romantic * Oldie *

ISBN: 9781787334823

Dimensions: 223mm x 145mm x 28mm

Weight: 410g

304 pages