Spill Simmer Falter Wither

LoveReading Says

Winner of the 2016 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize.

Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2016.

Slow starting first-person monologue that builds into a hypnotic tale which becomes utterly compulsive.  It is a novel of companionship, loss and fear.  Our narrator, a frightened, dysfunctional, 57-year old man, talks to an equally dysfunctional rescue dog who has a tendency to viciously attack other dogs.  Half way through the book our frightened narrator, who has always hid in his home, becomes too frightened to even stay there and the two set off round Ireland’s tiny villages, sleeping in his clapped out old car in gateways and such.  Lots of detail, lots of nature observations and lots of early memories make this an interestingly different and poignant read.  Stay with it, it will grab you. ~ Sarah Broadhurst

Costa Judges' comment: “A tough but tender, brilliant read full of fresh wonder. One to cherish.”

One of our Books of the Year 2015.

November 2015 Debut of the Month.

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2015.

Click here to read an article by Sara Baume on how she came to write this book.

Reviewed by Sarah Broadhurst
Sarah Broadhurst spent her early working life in the book trade in both retail and wholesale until the arrival of children forced her to look for freelance work she could do from…
More reviews by Sarah Broadhurst

About Spill Simmer Falter Wither

You find me on a Tuesday, on my Tuesday trip to town. A note sellotaped to the inside of the jumble-shop window: Compassionate & Tolerant Owner. A Person Without Other Pets & Without Children Under Four.

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