LoveReading Says
May 2013 Book of the Month.
A complex and thought-provoking psychological thriller that, through the metaphor of the characters' experiences, explores the utter failure of the American dream. A Boston family, looking for a new start, move south into a crumbling house in need of a total rebuild but the disputes that have been simmering for generations transform the dream into a nightmare.
Fallen Land is Patrick Flanery's second book following on from his critically acclaimed debut Absolution.
In addition to our Lovereading expert opinion for Fallen Land, a small number of Lovereading members were lucky enough to be invited to review this title - 'Highly recommended with wonderful prose that is intoxicating...This is a multilayered extraordinary book where I marvelled as each layer was unfolded' - Barbara Gaskell. Scroll down to read more reviews.
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About Fallen Land
Poplar Farm has been in Louise's family for generations, inherited by her sharecropping forebear from a white landowner after a lynching. Now, the farm has been carved up, the trees torn down; a mini-massacre replicating the destruction of lives and societies taking place all over America. Architect of this destruction is Paul Krovik, a property developer soon driven insane by the failure of his dream.
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Fallen Land Synopsis
Poplar Farm has been in Louise's family for generations, inherited by her sharecropping forebear from a white landowner after a lynching. Now, the farm has been carved up, the trees torn down; a mini-massacre replicating the destruction of lives and societies taking place all over America. Architect of this destruction is Paul Krovik, a property developer soon driven insane by the failure of his dream.
Julia and Nathaniel arrive from Boston with their son, Copley, and buy up Paul's signature home in a foreclosure sale. They move into the half-finished subdivision and settle in to their brave new world. Yet violence lies just beneath the surface of this land, and simmers deep within Nathaniel.
The great trees bear witness, Louise lives on in her beleaguered farmhouse, and as reality shifts, and the edges of what is right and wrong blur and are lost, Copley becomes convinced that someone is living in the house with them.
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Patrick Flanery Press Reviews
We have asked a select number of members and browsers to review Fallen Land. You can read their reviews below.
Barbara Gaskell - Highly recommended with wonderful prose that is intoxicating...This is a multilayered extraordinary book where I marvelled as each layer was unfolded and was left asking questions about myself and what lies beneath the surface.' Click here to read the full review.
Rebecca Jayne Barrett - Though Fallen Land was disturbing and frighteningly surprising at times, I was still drawn in by the developing plot that called to be read more...There are no other words to say it was amazing other than I truly loved reading Fallen Land, start to finish.' Click here to read the full review.
Judy Connolly - 'A totally enthralling story, from the tragic beginning to the last page I couldn’t put it down...A must read.' Click here to read the full review.
Sally Doel - 'Fallen Land is a fantastic read - I loved it...The characters are complex and interesting, the story is gripping and the ending is unexpected, all adding up to a great read!' Click here to read the full review.
Richard Hamlin - 'Fallen Land is an absorbing read; a novel to challenge the reader and stay with you long after the find page is turned.' Click here to read the full review.
Peter Land - 'This a gripping read; frightening, miserable, in some ways fantastic and yet believable. Patrick Flanery has a masterly way of writing as if he is reporting on events, recording the history.' Click here to read the full review.
Sue Broom - 'The book is an engrossing thriller but also explores all too believably how a country’s reaction to perceived threat could so easily overstep individuals’ rights to freedom...Its major strength is the quality of its writing, which is absolutely superb, stunningly descriptive. Wholeheartedly recommended, do read it.' Click here to read the full review.
Julie Bertschin - ' This is a powerful story of how people behave when their lives are falling apart around them.' Click here to read the full review.
Sally Welham - I struggled to finish this book and could not connect with the characters or care what happened to them...I can see that some people would really like this story but it was not for me.' Click here to read the full review.
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Praise for Patrick Flanery:
'Patrick Flanery is an exceptionally gifted novelist, and he is just getting started' -- Philip Gourevitch, New Yorker
About Patrick Flanery
Patrick Flanery was born in California in 1975 and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. After earning a BFA in Film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts he worked for three years in the film industry before moving to the UK, where he completed a doctorate in Twentieth-Century English Literature at the University of Oxford. As well as publishing scholarly articles on British and South African literature and film in a number of academic journals, he has written for Slightly Foxed and The Times Literary Supplement. He lives in London.
Author photo © Andrew van der Vlie
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