From the author of STILL LIFE, TIN MAN and WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT.
‘Will stand the test of time’ Irish Examiner
‘Beautiful prose that ebbs and flows’ Independent
‘A Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela Carter’
Patrick Gale
This is a story about Marvellous Ways, an eighty-nine-year-old woman who lives alone in a remote Cornish creek, spending her days sitting by the river, peering through a telescope. And it’s about Francis Drake, a young soldier who washes up in her creek, shattered by war and broken-hearted. It’s about the magic in everyday life and the lure of the sea, the healing powers of storytelling and sloe gin, love and death, and how we carry on when grief comes snapping at our heels.
‘Will stand the test of time’ Irish Examiner
‘Beautiful prose that ebbs and flows’ Independent
‘A Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela Carter’
Patrick Gale
This is a story about Marvellous Ways, an eighty-nine-year-old woman who lives alone in a remote Cornish creek, spending her days sitting by the river, peering through a telescope. And it’s about Francis Drake, a young soldier who washes up in her creek, shattered by war and broken-hearted. It’s about the magic in everyday life and the lure of the sea, the healing powers of storytelling and sloe gin, love and death, and how we carry on when grief comes snapping at our heels.
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Reviews
A Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela Carter
A glorious poem of a novel - a story to read slowly and to marvel at the beauty of it
The sense of magic infused through the novel casts a spell over the reader that makes you not want to put the book down until you've turned the final page
A book to savour, to read in wonderful, rich little bits like dark chocolate. Winman's prose is poetry, with a rhythm, a heartbeat, that carries you through like music
Yet again Sarah Winman has written a beautiful, beautiful novel. A Year of Marvellous Ways will hypnotise, seduce, until you can do nothing but pick it up and read it again
Fanciful imagery and beautiful prose that ebbs and flows
Winman excels in her sweeping prose and her unwavering theme of love in all its forms
One to read slowly so you can savour every beautiful sentence
Moving... offbeat and memorable
Beautifully written
The book demonstrates vividly how we need family around us, whether homegrown or grafted, to live our fullest lives... By the end of this novel, we too belong in the world of Marvellous Ways
In this warm, kindly novel, the sea is both magical and healing. Lovely
A truly enchanting book
A breathtaking reading experience... a beautiful book that is unafraid to reveal the ugliness of the world
She is particularly good at bringing the sensations of landscape to bear - its smell, sound and look - and in Marvellous has created a character of warmth and eccentricity
The stories are touching and the twist of magical realism lends them a joyful, fairytale element
What struck me was Winman's gorgeous imagery, beautiful passages and imaginative storytelling. Quirky and slightly hairbrained, A Year of Marvellous Ways is an unforgettable book
A gripping waiting game ... The novel's surprising denouement is also well worth the wait
A lavish and clever read which will stand the test of time