Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Best Book (nominee)
Elizabeth Barber is crossing the Atlantic by liner with her perfectly adequate boyfriend, Derek, who might be planning to propose. In fleeing the UK - temporarily - Elizabeth may also be in flight from her past and the charismatic Arthur, once her partner in what she came to see as a series of crimes. Together they acted as fake mediums, perfecting the arcane skills practised by effective frauds.
Elizabeth finally rejected what once seemed an intoxicating game. Arthur continued his search for the right way to do wrong. He now subsidises free closure for the traumatised and dispossessed by preying on the super-rich. The pair still meet occasionally, for weekends of sexual oblivion, but their affection lacerates as much as it consoles.
She hadn't, though, expected the other man on the boat. As her voyage progresses, Elizabeth's past is revealed, codes slowly form and break as communication deepens. It's time for her to discover who are the true deceivers and who are the truly deceived.
What's more, is the book itself - a fiction which may not always be lying - deceiving the reader? Offering illusions and false trails, magical numbers and redemptive humour, this is a novel about what happens when we are misled and when we are true: an extraordinarily intricate and intimate journey into our minds and hearts undertaken by a writer of great gifts - a maker of wonders.
Genre: General Fiction
Elizabeth finally rejected what once seemed an intoxicating game. Arthur continued his search for the right way to do wrong. He now subsidises free closure for the traumatised and dispossessed by preying on the super-rich. The pair still meet occasionally, for weekends of sexual oblivion, but their affection lacerates as much as it consoles.
She hadn't, though, expected the other man on the boat. As her voyage progresses, Elizabeth's past is revealed, codes slowly form and break as communication deepens. It's time for her to discover who are the true deceivers and who are the truly deceived.
What's more, is the book itself - a fiction which may not always be lying - deceiving the reader? Offering illusions and false trails, magical numbers and redemptive humour, this is a novel about what happens when we are misled and when we are true: an extraordinarily intricate and intimate journey into our minds and hearts undertaken by a writer of great gifts - a maker of wonders.
Genre: General Fiction
Used availability for A L Kennedy's The Blue Book
Hardback Editions
March 2013 : USA Hardback

Title: The Blue Book
Author(s): A L Kennedy
ISBN: 0-544-02770-1 / 978-0-544-02770-1 (USA edition)
Publisher: Little A / New Harvest
Availability: Amazon
February 2012 : UK Hardback
August 2011 : UK Hardback
Paperback Editions
October 2016 : USA Paperback
September 2012 : Canada Paperback

Title: The Blue Book
Author(s): A L Kennedy
ISBN: 1-77089-184-6 / 978-1-77089-184-5 (Canada edition)
Publisher: House of Anansi Press
Availability: Amazon CA
August 2012 : UK Paperback
August 2012 : Paperback

Title: [(The Blue Book)] [Author: A. L. Kennedy] published on (August, 2012)
Author(s): A L Kennedy
Publisher: VINTAGE
Availability: Amazon UK
August 2012 : UK Paperback
Audio Editions
August 2015 : USA MP3 CD
March 2013 : USA Audio CD
March 2013 : USA Audio CD
March 2013 : USA MP3 CD
March 2013 : USA MP3 CD
March 2013 : USA Audio edition
March 2013 : Canada Audio edition
August 2011 : USA Audio edition
August 2011 : Australia Audio edition
August 2011 : UK Audio edition
Kindle Editions
March 2013 : USA Kindle edition
August 2012 : Canada Kindle edition
September 2011 : UK Kindle edition