Sophia Cleves a invité son fils Art à venir passer Noël dans sa demeure en Cornouailles. À cette occasion, il doit lui présenter sa petite amie, Charlotte, mais celle-ci a rompu avec Art quelques jours auparavant. Pour ne pas perdre la face, il propose à une jeune femme rencontrée à l'arrêt de bus de jouer le rôle de Charlotte. Une fois sur place, Art se rend compte que sa mère ne va pas bien, et appelle sa tante Iris au secours. Sauf que les deux femmes ne se sont pas parlé depuis trente ans.
L'hiver, pour Ali Smith, est la saison des ruptures, des choix qui nous éloignent les uns des autres, avant d'être celle des retrouvailles. Porté par une langue d'une grande poésie, son regard sur les faux-semblants de nos sociétés est impitoyable, tendre et drôle à la fois.
Dans la maison de retraite Maltings Care, Daniel observe la vie qui s'en va lentement. Presque chaque jour, Elisabeth lui rend visite, elle qui n'a oublié ni l'audace ni la générosité de cet homme à présent centenaire, qui fut son voisin pendant son enfance. Il l'a éveillée à la littérature, au cinéma, à la peinture, et désormais un lien profond les unit.Mais autour d'eux, tout un pays se déchire au sujet de son avenir - le référendum sur le Brexit vient d'avoir lieu. Les deux amis tentent, chacun à sa façon, entre le temps qui passe et les souvenirs qui affluent, d'accompagner le cycle perpétuel des saisons.Avec ce premier volet d'une suite romanesque en quatre volumes, Ali Smith explore les fractures de nos démocraties modernes et nous interroge sur le sens de nos existences.Un de ces livres rares, ne ressemblant à aucun autre. Inoubliable. Le Figaro littéraire.Entre poésie, onirisme et rébellion, une ode à l'anticonformisme et à l'imagination. Les Échos.Traduit de l'anglais par Laetitia Devaux.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER 'In a country apparently divided against itself, a writer such as Smith is more valuable than a whole parliament of politicians' Financial Times 'Undoubtedly Smith at her best. Puckish, yet elegant; angry, but comforting' The Times 'A beautiful, poignant symphony of memories, dreams and transient realities ... The first post-Brexit novel' Guardian A breathtakingly inventive new novel from the Man Booker-shortlisted and Baileys Prize-winning author of How to be both Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer. Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever . . . 'Terrific, extraordinary, playful... There is an awful lot to lift the soul' Daily Mail 'Bold and brilliant' Observer
Discover the unforgettable finale to Ali Smith''s dazzling literary tour-de-forcebr>br>In the present, Sacha knows the world''s in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile the world''s in meltdown - and the real meltdown hasn''t even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they''re living on borrowed time. br>br>This is a story about people on the brink of change. They''re family, but they think they''re strangers. So: where does family begin? And what do people who think they''ve got nothing in common have in common?br>br>Summer.br>br>''Smith''s seasonal quartet of novels is a bold and brilliant experiment'' Independentbr>br>''The novel''s hopeful message about the healing power of friendship ensures the quartet ends on a feel-good note'' Sunday Times>
Girl meets boy. It's a story as old as time. But what happens when an old story meets a brand new set of circumstances? Ali Smith's remix of Ovid's most joyful metamorphosis is a story about the kind of fluidity that can't be bottled and sold. It is about girls and boys, girls and girls, love and transformation, a story of puns and doubles, reversals and revelations. Funny and fresh, poetic and political, here is a tale of change for the modern world.
Panning in on the Norfolk holiday home of the Smart family one hot summer, this novel is about the ways that seemingly chance encounters irrevocably transform our understanding of ourselves, which is also an exploration of the nature of truth, and the role of fate.
B>MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST The first novel in Ali Smiths Seasonal Quartet is an unforgettable story about aging and time and love--and stories themselves./b>br> br>Autumn. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Two old friends--Daniel, a centenarian, and Elisabeth, born in 1984--look to both the future and the past as the United Kingdom stands divided by a historic, once-in-a-generation summer. Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand-in-hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever.br> br>A luminous meditation on the meaning of richness and harvest and worth, Autumn is the first installment of Ali Smiths Seasonal Quartet, and it casts an eye over our own time: Who are we? What are we made of? Shakespearean jeu desprit, Keatsian melancholy, the sheer bright energy of 1960s pop art. Autumn is wide-ranging in time-scale and light-footed through histories.
H. G. Wells' revolutionary human rights manifesto is reissued by Penguin with a new introduction by fellow novelist and human rights campaigner Ali Smith 'Penguin and Pelican Specials are books of topical importance published within as short a time as possible from receipt of the manuscript. Some are reprints of famous books brought up-to-date, but usually they are entirely new books published for the first time.' H. G. Wells wrote The Rights of Man in 1940, partly in response to the ongoing war with Germany. The fearlessly progressive ideas he set out were instrumental in the creation of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU's European Convention on Human Rights and the UK's Human Rights Act. When first published, this manifesto was an urgently topical reaction to a global miscarriage of justice. It was intended to stimulate debate and make a clear statement of mankind's immutable responsibilities to itself. Seventy-five years have passed and once again we face a humanitarian crisis. In the UK our human rights are under threat in ways that they never have been before and overseas peoples are being displaced from their homelands in their millions. The international community must act decisively, cooperatively and fast. The Rights of Man is not an 'entirely new book' - but it is a book of topical importance and it has been published, now as before, in as short a time as possible, in order to react to the sudden and urgent need. With a new introduction by award-winning novelist and human rights campaigner Ali Smith, Penguin reissues one of the most important humanitarian texts of the twentieth century in the hope that it will continue to stimulate debate and remind our leaders - and each other - of the essential priorities and responsibilities of mankind.
A charming new red Early Reader story from OPAL MOONBABY author Maudie Smith, and talented illustrator Ali Pye, about friendship, kindness and tights! Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books, perfect for building confidence in new readers and reluctant readers. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Kit has an important new job; Keeper of the King's Tights. More than anything he wants to do his best, but with so many of the King's subjects in need of Kit's help, he finds himself in need of a little help himself. . . A warm, funny story for beginner readers from an exciting new author and illustrator team.
