Press

What the critics say

He writes with impressive directness and simplicity at moments of passion-One is aware of the compassionate intelligence that is discreetly but continuously at work in this book
- Independent

'Colin Thubron's voice is unique'
- Spectator

Impeccably crafted and beautifully written-many books which are highly enjoyable in the reading leave no imprint on the imagination. This one does
- Daily Telegraph

Mark Swabey, a provincial journalist, is serving a prison sentence in connection with the death of Clara the Swallow, a circus acrobat with whom he fell in love. And the grief-stricken Swabey looks back on their brief affair, the exact nature of his responsibility for Clara's death is movingly revealed-every sentence is informed by the most intense anguish'
- Observer

Thubron weaves a skilful, poignant story of love and loss, and also reinvents the myth of the Fall-This novel is above all celebratory. It trumpets the right to walk out on the high wire, to love dangerously and hopelessly - even if death (real or metaphorical) is the price
- Sunday Times