Serious Sweet by Al Kennedy
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2016 MAN BOOKER PRIZEA Sunday Times Book of the YearA good man in a bad world, Jon Sigurdsson is 59 and divorced: a senior civil servant in Westminster who hates many of his colleagues and loathes his work for a government engaged in unmentionable acts.
"Kennedy tenderly anatomised London and loneliness in Serious Sweet" -- Ali Smith * Guardian, Book of the Year *
"So beautiful that it makes your head hurt." -- Katy Guest * Independent *
"Serious Sweet is a magnificent novel, showing Kennedy at the very top of her game. Ambitious in scope, daring in execution, full of dazzling apercus and dark comedy… It is a tale of redemption, as serious and as sweet as you could wish for." -- Rebecca Abrams * Financial Times *
"In equal measures, funny, sad and addictive… The opening pages had me holding my breath in fear and anticipation… Capturing the relentless hustle of London life to perfection." -- Glenda Marchant * Stylist *
"A. L. Kennedy shakes her city until the right atoms collide. She stands back to give a picture of the whole of London on one day, and then suddenly swoops down to pick up a tiny detail." -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
"Deeply affecting... Kennedy strips her characters emotionally bare… Serious Sweet portrays intense lives of quiet desperation: it is a novel about hope and muted courage and, at the end of the day, a very tentatively experienced optimism." -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *
"A. L. Kennedy's eighth novel is a profoundly moving, often funny, and at points rending depiction of two good people. Serious Sweet is about the heroism of decency; albeit damaged decency... Kennedy is not one of our finest writers simply because of the quality of her prose: she is because of the moral profundity of her work." -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *
"This is a bold, cinematic novel... Parts of it are terrifically funny." * Herald *
"A genuinely stirring love story." * Mail on Sunday *
"Her flair for describing feelings and relationships makes this an engaging window into the messy minds of Londoners and her commentary on the city rings true." -- Susannah Butter * Evening Standard *
"Determinedly and impressively intellectual… A novel of ideas that is deft enough never to be didactic because it asks more question than it answers." -- Lara Feigel * Guardian *
"This is an author with a proven ability to see – truly see – and whose prose can fire like gunshots across the page." -- Rebecca Swirsky * New Statesman *
"[Like] Sleepless in Seattle, respun by James Joyce, and set within a London on the precipice of Brexit." * Culture Trip *
"Her best book in years." -- Justine Jordan * Guardian *
"Uniquely moving love story." -- Jess Denham * Independent *
"So beautiful that it makes your head hurt." -- Katy Guest * Independent *
"Serious Sweet is a magnificent novel, showing Kennedy at the very top of her game. Ambitious in scope, daring in execution, full of dazzling apercus and dark comedy… It is a tale of redemption, as serious and as sweet as you could wish for." -- Rebecca Abrams * Financial Times *
"In equal measures, funny, sad and addictive… The opening pages had me holding my breath in fear and anticipation… Capturing the relentless hustle of London life to perfection." -- Glenda Marchant * Stylist *
"A. L. Kennedy shakes her city until the right atoms collide. She stands back to give a picture of the whole of London on one day, and then suddenly swoops down to pick up a tiny detail." -- Kate Saunders * The Times *
"Deeply affecting... Kennedy strips her characters emotionally bare… Serious Sweet portrays intense lives of quiet desperation: it is a novel about hope and muted courage and, at the end of the day, a very tentatively experienced optimism." -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *
"A. L. Kennedy's eighth novel is a profoundly moving, often funny, and at points rending depiction of two good people. Serious Sweet is about the heroism of decency; albeit damaged decency... Kennedy is not one of our finest writers simply because of the quality of her prose: she is because of the moral profundity of her work." -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *
"This is a bold, cinematic novel... Parts of it are terrifically funny." * Herald *
"A genuinely stirring love story." * Mail on Sunday *
"Her flair for describing feelings and relationships makes this an engaging window into the messy minds of Londoners and her commentary on the city rings true." -- Susannah Butter * Evening Standard *
"Determinedly and impressively intellectual… A novel of ideas that is deft enough never to be didactic because it asks more question than it answers." -- Lara Feigel * Guardian *
"This is an author with a proven ability to see – truly see – and whose prose can fire like gunshots across the page." -- Rebecca Swirsky * New Statesman *
"[Like] Sleepless in Seattle, respun by James Joyce, and set within a London on the precipice of Brexit." * Culture Trip *
"Her best book in years." -- Justine Jordan * Guardian *
"Uniquely moving love story." -- Jess Denham * Independent *
A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards – including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in London and is a part-time lecturer in creative writing at Warwick University.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780224098441 |
| ISBN 10 | 0224098446 |
| Title | Serious Sweet |
| Author | Al Kennedy |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2016-05-19 |
| Number of pages | 528 |
| Prizes | Long-listed for Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2016 (UK) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |