Envy
From the author of ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Binding Chair’ comes an intense novel of dark secrets and sexual betrayal.
‘Envy’ is the powerful modern story of Will, an analyst whose marriage is in trouble. Was it the accidental death of their child Luke in a boating accident that got the marriage to this point? Or is Will going through some sort of mid-life crisis?
Will’s twin brother Mitch has cast a shadow over his life. Mitch is an Olympic swimmer physically identical to Will except that he was born with disfiguring facial marks. For reasons that are gradually revealed, Mitch has been banished from the family.
The sexual problems in Will’s marriage follow him to the office, where he finds himself aroused by every female patient regardless of looks. Will is tortured by the idea that he may have fathered a daughter by a woman who is not his wife. This woman, now aged 25, is about to enter his life and cause havoc. In prose that has all the brilliance of a diamond this sexually-charged and highly explicit novel contains many dark secrets.
”'I was transfixed, gulping it down, desperate to… ind out how the spiralling misery of…characters would be resolved.” - Guardian
”'This is a dark and brooding novel an examination of one man’s mid-life crisis. Particularly impressive is Harrison’s ability to write about sex in a way that is explicit and revealing but never prurient.” - Mail on Sunday
”'Rendered in a prose so lapidary, with the lovely surface bloom of some rare and exquisite work of art. Gracefully wayward mixture of sex and grief.” - Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph
”'In Harrison’s intense and sometimes unbearably moving novel, the fallen masonry of history reassembles itself. Compelling and genuinely disturbing.” - The Times
”'A marvelous writer, one of the best at work today. She is unflinching, however difficult her material. Her characters are complex, her dialogue razor-sharp and her range - moral, historical and geographical - is unparalleled. Few authors of serious literary fiction are so daring.” - Daily Telegraph 'Novel of the Week’
”'Harrison’s precise control over the story and her delivery of one central and splendidly lubricious sex scene make 'Envy' an engrossing read. Harrison’s complex tale of damaged personal interactions invites serious reflection.” - Time Out
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