Overview

Wexford County, 1891. The unlikely discovery of a beached blue whale sets in motion a series of events leading to the present-day re-installation of a fundamental piece of London's Natural History Museum.  Amherst, Massachusetts, circa. 1850. A letter is found revealing an intimate secret about the reclusive Miss Emily and her brother's fiance Susan Huntington.  London, circa. 1880. A young working-class woman named Ada Alice Pullen meets the esteemed painter Frederic Leighton, beginning a relationship that will transform her and the world of art forever. Three objects of hope, their stories retold as you've never heard them before: in the voices of the coxswain's girlfriend, the maid, and the model.

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9781739207786

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Reviews

'Packed with tenderness, emotion, and humour. It opened me up to unknown worlds and left me wanting more' - Devika Ponnambalam, author of I AM NOT YOUR EVE; 'Three stories of poetry, painting and science are deftly braided together in vivid, tender prose, and all linked by a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the idea of hope. It's a slender novel but with more ambition, energy and emotional weight than many longer tomes. I loved it.' - Victoria MacKenzie, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain

Author Information

Douglas Bruton has had short stories placed in various publications including 'Northwords Now', 'New Writing Scotland', 'Aesthetica' and 'The Irish Literary Review'. His short stories have also won competitions including with 'Fish' and 'The Neil Gunn Prize'. His children's novel The Chess Piece Magician was published by Floris Books (2009); his literary fiction debut, Mrs Winchester's Gun Club, was published by Scotland Street Press (2019); and Blue Postcards, longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2022, was published by Fairlight Books (2021); With or Without Angels was also published by Fairlight Books (2023). A novella about the death of Dylan Thomas called Just Like Him To Die was published by Leamington Books (2022).

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