A heartbreaking novel of family secrets from one of the masters of modern fiction, The Rain Before it Falls is part of our Penguin Essentials series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics
Deeply moving and compelling, The Rain Before it Falls is the story of three generations of one family riven by tragedy. When Rosamund, a reluctant bearer of family secrets, dies suddenly, a mystery is left for her niece Gill to unravel. Some photograph albums and tapes point towards a blind girl named Imogen whom no one has seen in twenty years. The search for Imogen and the truth of her inheritance becomes a shocking story of mothers and daughters and of how sadness, like a musical refrain, may haunt us down the years.
In the Birmingham suburb of Bournville, a family celebrate VE Day in 1945. With the joy of such an occasion there also come larger national questions about the nature of the horrific war the country has just been through. Following this family through generations as they navigate seventy-five years of drastic social change, from wartime nostalgia and English exceptionalism to the royal family, the World Cup and coronavirus, domestic secrets and national myths leave characters and a country adrift, bewildered and divided. A novel of rare humour and humanity, holding up a mirror reflecting our country, our history and ourselves.
The country is changing and, up and down the land, cracks are appearing - within families and between generations. In the Midlands Benjamin Trotter is trying to help his aged father navigate a Britain that seems to have forgotten he exists, whilst in London his friend Doug doesn't understand why his teenage daughter is eternally enraged. Meanwhile, newlyweds Sophie and Ian can find nothing to agree on except the fact that their marriage is on the rocks . . .
«Il y a combien de temps que j’ai joué ces accords? Combien de temps qu’elle est apparue dans le bar, elle, qu’elle s’est approchée du piano, pendant que j’improvisais dans la pénombre de la salle, bien apres que les buveurs les plus endurcis étaient rentrés chez eux, leurs verres finis? Je ne sais pas, j’en perds le souvenir. Je me rappelle seulement que nous avons bavardé, échangé des banalités quelques minutes, pendant que mes doigts erraient sur le clavier, machinalement ; au fil des itinéraires habituels, des harmonies faciles et familieres, auxquelles je me laisse prendre, ces temps-ci, comme a autant de mauvaises habitudes.»
Quatre pieces courtes pour rire et rever, quatre variations sur nos vies incertaines, ou rien n’est jamais achevé – pas meme le malentendu. Au clavier, Jonathan Coe avec sa petite musique qui nous piege pour mieux nous enchanter
Ten produkt jest zapowiedzią. Realizacja Twojego zamówienia ulegnie przez to wydłużeniu do czasu premiery tej pozycji. Czy chcesz dodać ten produkt do koszyka?
