The details

Genberg, Ia

£14.99

A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety. In the throes of a high fever, a woman lies bedridden. Suddenly, she is struck with an urge to revisit a particular novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a get-well-soon message from an ex-girlfriend. Pages from her past begin to flip, full of things she cannot forget and people who cannot be forgotten. Johanna, that same ex-girlfriend who introduced her to Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy, now a famous TV host in Sweden. Niki, the friend who disappeared all those years ago without a phone number or an address and has no online footprint. Alejandro, who gleefully campaigns for a baby despite knowing their love has no future. And Brigitte, whose elusive qualities shield a painful secret.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 08/08/2023

Description

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE AUGUST PRIZE 2022 (BEST FICTION)
WINNER OF THE AFTONBLADET LITERARY PRIZE 2022

‘I wish I could write like this’ Fredrik Backman, author of A MAN CALLED OVE

‘Mesmerizing and hot to the touch’ Catherine Lacey, NEW YORK TIMES

Textured insights into human nature‘ THE NEW YORKER

A famous broadcaster writes a forgotten love letter; a friend abruptly disappears; a lover leaves something unexpected behind; a traumatised woman is consumed by her own anxiety.

In the throes of a high fever, a woman lies bedridden. Suddenly, she is struck with an urge to revisit a particular novel from her past. Inside the book is an inscription: a message from an ex-girlfriend.

Pages from her past begin to flip, full of things she cannot forget and people who cannot be forgotten. Johanna, that same ex-girlfriend, now a famous TV host. Niki, the friend who disappeared all those years ago. Alejandro, who appears like a storm in precisely the right moment. And Birgitte, whose elusive qualities shield a painful secret.

Who is the real subject of a portrait, the person being painted or the one holding the brush? The Details is a novel built around four such portraits, unveiling the fragments of memory and experience that make up a life. In exhilarating, provocative prose, Ia Genberg reveals an intimate and powerful celebration of what it means to be human.

MORE PRAISE FOR THE DETAILS:

‘A novel that, through its very bones, encapsulates one of the most important ideas of our current political moment – the necessity of connection, and our vulnerability to one other’ Susannah Dickey, author of TENNIS LESSONS

‘A woozy, affecting dive into desire, domination and memory’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘An ode to the different kinds of love that form us . . . I won’t forget this beautiful book’ Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCE

‘A fever dream . . . A feat of characterization, a triumph of lending language and profundity to observations of daily life’ LITERARY HUB

Additional information

Weight 286 g
Dimensions 218 × 142 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

192

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

839.738 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K