John Brown's Body (Arena Books) Book

'It is an extraordinary achievement.' A. S. Byatt Marise Tomelty is a child-wife who dislikes sex and is terrified of open spaces. Ralph Shilling, a dealer in pesticides, lives in the flat above the Tomeltys'. One day, Marise's travelling-salesman husband casually mentions that he recognises Ralph as John Brown, the suspect who, for lack of evidence, was acquitted in an atrocious double murder. Nevertheless, Marise encourages Ralph's attentions, intoxicated by a heady mix of passion and fear. Shortlisted for the 1969 Booker Prize, John Brown's Body is a serious exploration of the tug between body and soul, life and death, truth and fantasy. An extraordinary novel, it is written in the precise, impeccable prose for which A. L. Barker is famed. 'She is formidable, and from a bare corner of human relations gathers a rich harvest.' Adam Mars-Jones 'Her glancing, allusive writing carries one along easily, darting from invention to invention . . . Underneath there is a firm, ordering imagination and the poise of perfect pitch.' New Statesman 'It would be hard to find anyone who chooses words more exactly or constructs with more precision.' Penelope FitzgeraldRead More