Cousins

Description

'A wonderful book. Salley Vickers spins a spellbinding account of a family in distress' Elizabeth Strout Will Tye, a teenage boy from a middle-class, suburban family, develops his first intense crush on a girl. But this familiar love story has a dark twist - the girl is his own cousin Cecelia. News of the infatuation spreads through generations of the complex and eccentric Tye family, leaving ripples of resentment and disquiet. When Will experiences a life-changing accident, Cecelia is the most closely affected by his suffering - and her own life is forever changed by how she will respond to it. Told through the eyes of three women close to Will, his sister, his grandmother and his aunt, Cousins takes us from the outbreak of the Second World War to the present day, exploring the recurrence of tragedy, the nature of transgression, and the limits of morality and love.

Salley Vickers is the author of many acclaimed novels including the best-selling Miss Garnet's Angel, Mr Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and The Cleaner of Chartres (Viking 2012) and two short story collections, the latest The Boy Who Could See Death (Viking 2015). She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, a teacher of children with special needs, a university lecturer and a psychoanalyst. She now writes and lectures full time. Find out more at www.salleyvickers.com or @SalleyVickers.

Utterly compelling... Cousins is a remarkable book about the strange tact and terrors of family life and the histories that haunt it -- Adam Phillips Vickers has a formidable knack for laying open the human heart... a layered family drama * Sunday Times * Each distinct voice in this complex pattern of relationships is presented with deep empathy and clarity, so that you feel a real three-dimensional quality in the characters. The most painful ethical dilemmas are laid out with compassion and without manipulation. A serious, mature book that is also compellingly enjoyable -- Rowan Williams A wonderful book. Salley Vickers spins a spellbinding account of a family in distress -- Elizabeth Strout A story of secrets, lies and history is elegantly handled... She lays bare the inner workings of one family, possibly every family, with an often disconcerting clarity * The Times * If you're a fan of Marilynne Robinson (the Pulitzer-prize winning author of Gilead), you'll love this...a dark and gritty read * Sunday Times * No one can dig down into the shrouded recesses of the human heart quite as forensically as Vickers * Sunday Times * This is a highly charged novel you'll find hard to put down...The novel raises important issues about motherhood and family connections, and examines the survivor's guilt felt by many of the characters that helps to drive the painful resolution * Sunday Express * Vickers ponders undercurrents that swirl down the ages...Vickers commitment to the realism required by fictional memoir...a fascinating exploration of the often equivocal and always cryptic nature of family love * Guardian * A psychologically acute case study * Mail on Sunday * A story of a family rocked by tragedy * Daily Mail * One of our best women writers...Cousins is a towering tale of three generations of the Tye family, spanning 70 years * Reader's Digest * Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing -- Philip Pullman on 'The Cleaner of Chartres' Absorbing, subtle and utterly joyous * Sunday Times on 'The Cleaner of Chartres' * A magical and at times sinister story about love, loss, secrets and forgiveness * Scotland on Sunday on 'The Cleaner of Chartres' * Beautifully and brilliantly controlled. A triumph * John Julius Norwich on 'Miss Garnet's Angel' *