June 2011 Guest Editor Suzannah Dunn on Under the Skin...

The first novel from this remarkably versatile and, in my opinion, always excellent writer.  A brief, terse read, this isn’t what you’ll think it is from the first few pages:  stay with it  (although actually I don’t doubt that you will).  It’ll certainly stay with you.  I read it many years ago but still can’t walk past a field of cattle without being – horribly – reminded of it  (and, living where I do, I walk past fields of cattle every day!)  It’s an audacious, blackly-humourous, unsettling, genuinely creepy book that’ll have you hooked from the first page… and, as I say, will never quite leave you.  (And, in case you’re wondering:  no, apparently Faber isn’t vegetarian.)

Synopsis

This remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, a woman obsessed with picking up male hitchhikers - so long as they're well-muscled and alone. But why? As the novel unfolds and the reason becomes clear, the reader is drawn inexorably into a completely unexpected and increasingly terrifying world.

Reviews

'The real triumph is Faber's restrained, almost opaque prose. This is a man who could give Conrad a run at writing the perfect sentence.'
Guardian

About the Author

Michel Faber has written seven other books, including the highly acclaimed The Crimson Petal and the White, The Fahrenheit Twins and the Whitbread-shortlisted novel Under the Skin. The Apple, based on characters in The Crimson Petal and the White, was published in 2006. He has also written two novellas, The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps (2001) and The Courage Consort (2002), and has won several short-story awards, including the Neil Gunn, Ian St James and Macallan. Born in Holland, brought up in Australia, he now lives in the Scottish Highlands.   Author photo © Eva Faber More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation