Alys, Always
Harriet Lane
(Author)
Description
From the author of Her, a suspenseful, assured literary debut that explores the dark side of desire and ambition through one woman's unlikely entry into an elite world. Driving home to London one winter evening, Frances happens upon a car that has flipped onto its side. She comforts the dying driver, Alys Kyte, and hears her final words. The wife of a celebrated novelist, Alys moved in rarefied circles, and when Frances agrees to meet the bereaved family, she glimpses a world entirely foreign to her: cultured, wealthy, and privileged. While slowly forging a friendship with Alys's carelessly charismatic daughter, Frances finds her own life takes a dramatic turn, propelling her from an anonymous existence as an assistant editor for the books section of a newspaper to the heights of literary society. With this unforgettable protagonist, author Harriet Lane draws readers into a tightly paced tale that careens towards an audacious ending. Transfixing, insightful, and unsettling, Alys, Always drops readers into the mind of an enigmatic young woman whose perspective on a glamorous world shines a light on those on the outside who would risk everything to be accepted.Product Details
Price
$16.99
$15.80
Publisher
Scribner Book Company
Publish Date
January 08, 2013
Pages
240
Dimensions
5.2 X 0.6 X 7.9 inches | 0.4 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781451673173
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About the Author
Harriet Lane has worked as an editor and writer at Tatler and the Observer. She has also written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, and Vogue. She lives in London, England. Alys, Always is her first novel.
Reviews
"Highly entertaining... Howards End meets All About Eve... A breezy, lacerating first novel."--Jonathan Dee "New York Times Book Review (cover review) "
"A taut debut."--Susannah Meadows "The New York Times "
"Harriet Lane writes with style, wrapping her suspenseful debut in lovely bits of gently creepy description, as well as delicious social critique... a fast, sharp read."--Mindy Farabee "Boston Globe "
"A deft and lively brain-twist of a thriller for which the only word that seems apropos is 'spellbinding.'"--Julia Keller "Chicago Tribune "
"Mesmerizing... a slow-burning psychological novel that unsettles and satisfies in equal, tantalizing measure--a literary All About Eve that stands testament to the old saying that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."--Lucy Scholes "The Daily Beast "
"Fabulous... I gobbled it up in one furtive sitting. It's crafted with the merciless but accurate observations and the lean elegance you find in Anita Brookner at her best... Like its narrator, Alys, Always is unforgettable"--Deirdre Donohue "USA TODAY "
"Controlled and precise, Lane's writing bewitches with its undertones of implied meanings and carefully hidden secrets. This is a gem."--Kirkus (starred review)
"Lane's wry debut delves into the political machinations of London's literary scene."--Publishers Weekly
"This novel begins with a bang and delivers all sorts of surprises, but manages some accute and moving observations.. .A very fine debut. Lane works out her dramatic premise with great originality."--The Times (UK)
"Wonderfully observed...This is a gripping, psychologically complex achievement, whose greatest success is its lingering sense of unease."--The Telegraph (UK)
"Exceptional... In Frances [Lane] has created a character Daphne du Maurier might have been proud of: vulnerable, manipulative, resourceful, chippy, but one of us."--Financial Times (UK)
"This chilling and accomplished debut is in classic Ruth Rendell territory. Crucially, the author knows the trick of what to leave out, and of how to tantilise."--The Independent (UK)
"A superbly disquieting psychological thriller... Lane is a formidable wordsmith, and the literary world is conjured up in all its delicous, gossipy hierarchy.... Mordantly funny, yet chilling, this tale of an ordinary woman inveigling her way into a position of power is compulsive reading."--The Spectator (UK)
"Superbly, even poetically written with an almost feverish hyper-realism, this All About Eve for our times misses no telling detail... A brilliant idea, brilliantly realized. I loved it, loved it. I've run out of superlatives and all that remains to say is that I wish I was you; I wish I hadn't read it and had that pleasure to come."--Daily Mail (UK)
"A taut debut."--Susannah Meadows "The New York Times "
"Harriet Lane writes with style, wrapping her suspenseful debut in lovely bits of gently creepy description, as well as delicious social critique... a fast, sharp read."--Mindy Farabee "Boston Globe "
"A deft and lively brain-twist of a thriller for which the only word that seems apropos is 'spellbinding.'"--Julia Keller "Chicago Tribune "
"Mesmerizing... a slow-burning psychological novel that unsettles and satisfies in equal, tantalizing measure--a literary All About Eve that stands testament to the old saying that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for."--Lucy Scholes "The Daily Beast "
"Fabulous... I gobbled it up in one furtive sitting. It's crafted with the merciless but accurate observations and the lean elegance you find in Anita Brookner at her best... Like its narrator, Alys, Always is unforgettable"--Deirdre Donohue "USA TODAY "
"Controlled and precise, Lane's writing bewitches with its undertones of implied meanings and carefully hidden secrets. This is a gem."--Kirkus (starred review)
"Lane's wry debut delves into the political machinations of London's literary scene."--Publishers Weekly
"This novel begins with a bang and delivers all sorts of surprises, but manages some accute and moving observations.. .A very fine debut. Lane works out her dramatic premise with great originality."--The Times (UK)
"Wonderfully observed...This is a gripping, psychologically complex achievement, whose greatest success is its lingering sense of unease."--The Telegraph (UK)
"Exceptional... In Frances [Lane] has created a character Daphne du Maurier might have been proud of: vulnerable, manipulative, resourceful, chippy, but one of us."--Financial Times (UK)
"This chilling and accomplished debut is in classic Ruth Rendell territory. Crucially, the author knows the trick of what to leave out, and of how to tantilise."--The Independent (UK)
"A superbly disquieting psychological thriller... Lane is a formidable wordsmith, and the literary world is conjured up in all its delicous, gossipy hierarchy.... Mordantly funny, yet chilling, this tale of an ordinary woman inveigling her way into a position of power is compulsive reading."--The Spectator (UK)
"Superbly, even poetically written with an almost feverish hyper-realism, this All About Eve for our times misses no telling detail... A brilliant idea, brilliantly realized. I loved it, loved it. I've run out of superlatives and all that remains to say is that I wish I was you; I wish I hadn't read it and had that pleasure to come."--Daily Mail (UK)
