This is a fascinating and moving novel about a young man who sees the world from a slightly troubled point of view. From the beginning the signs are there that not all is quite as it should be in the mind of Patrick Oxtoby and, despite best efforts to improve his life, his inner turmoils bring about a turn of events that will change his life completely. A totally engrossing book, sad, bittersweet and brilliant.
From the Man Bookershortlisted author ofCarry Me Down comes ';an unflinching, absorbing, morally complex portrait' of a man in search of himself (The New York Times). Patrick Oxtoby is a perpetual outsider who has always longed to find his place in the world. So when he's faced with yet another disappointment after his fiance breaks off their engagement, Patrick moves to a remote seaside village to escape.
From the Man Bookershortlisted author ofCarry Me Down comes ';an unflinching, absorbing, morally complex portrait' of a man in search of himself (The New York Times). Patrick Oxtoby is a perpetual outsider who has always longed to find his place in the world. So when he's faced with yet another disappointment after his fiance breaks off their engagement, Patrick moves to a remote seaside village to escape.
But in spite of his hopes for a new and better life, Patrick still finds himself struggling to fit in. He can't shake the feeling that his new friends are conspiring against him, further fracturing his already fragile personality and prompting him to take a course of action that permanently alters his life. This Is Howis a psychologically probing and deeply moving account of a man at odds with the world, and whose conflict with that unyielding reality leads to his own downfall.
It is a masterpiece of inner tension that is ';bleak yet moving, mercilessly dispassionate yet shot through with kindness and wit... a profound achievement' (The Guardian).
A tour de force. Hyland illuminates this man's damaged soul with such a steely, brilliant clarity that your heart breaks for him.' Helen Garner
'M.J. Hyland has a ferocious imagination, and an eerie way of squeezing the distance between author, character and reader, so that the atmosphere of the book soaks and penetrates the reader's mind. When you've been reading Hyland, other writers seem to lack integrity; they seem wedded to weak confabulations, whereas she aims straight for the truth and the heart.' Hilary Mantel
Author
About M J Hyland
M.J. Hyland was born in London in 1968 to Irish parents, and spent her early childhood in Dublin. She now lives and works in Melbourne. Her short stories have been published in Australia, the USA and Ireland and she also edited the literary magazine, Nocturnal Submissions, for a number of years.
From the Man Bookershortlisted author ofCarry Me Down comes ';an unflinching, absorbing, morally complex portrait' of a man in search of himself (The New York Times). Patrick Oxtoby is a perpetual outsider who has always longed to find his place in the world.
This Is How features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, General Fiction, Fiction
Ebook, Paperback. £17.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
This Is How was written by M J Hyland and published by Grove Atlantic
£17.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
