The White Rock

From the bestselling author of The Ballroom

Anna Hope author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:25th Aug '22

£14.99

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The White Rock cover

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BALLROOM AND EXPECTATION

'Poetic, philosophical and wildly captivating... I swam in this book and didn't want to come up for air' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals and Adults
___________________


They are separating, she and her husband, after two decades together.
This fact is new.
Only really a fact for a few weeks or so. Before that it was a possibility - one potential outcome among many. But now it appears to be, unequivocally, the case.
There are many ways of telling the tale ...
There are many different sides to every story ...

The White Rock stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Four people, across four centuries, each navigating ruptures to the world they know, are irresistibly drawn to it.

A British writer travels in 2020 with her husband and young daughter to give thanks for the birth of their child. She looks to the White Rock for answers, even as her faith in her marriage, and the future itself, is unravelling.

An American rock star in 1969 is in the final act of his self-destruction. On the run from the law, from his rabid fans and an America burning with the fever of the Vietnam War, he washes up at the edge of Mexico, hoping to lose, or maybe find himself.

A Yoeme girl is torn from her homeland at the turn of the twentieth century and taken by force to the coast. As her future is recast in the name of progress and power, she turns to the stories of her people, to resist, and to survive.

And in 1775 a young Spanish naval officer, preparing to set sail from the White Rock to continue the conquest of the Pacific coast, appears to lose his grip on reality, with far-reaching and fatal consequences.

And as they each find themselves at the end of the story they have lived by, their tales echo, breathtakingly, through time . . .
___________________

'So bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself. Stunning' Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin

'Absolutely a story...

Precise and perceptive ... Deeply satisfying ... We may struggle to find hope, Hope tells us, but it is there in the landscape, in faith and memory and ritual, in the ancient unchanging silences that persist' * Guardian *
An eco-novel you actually want to read ... She's an assured author with a knack for an arresting image ... It leaves you with a gentle sense that things keep going * The Times *
Its narrative sweep is capacious ... It has ambition to match, musing on freedom and reciprocity, on the redemptive power of storytelling and the sustaining force of ritual ... Demonstrating impressive stylistic verve * Observer *
Mesmerising ... Imaginative ... Among its many impressive elements is Hope's handling of the past ... Her greatest talent is in getting under the skin of her characters ... There is a subtle plangency in this powerful portrait of human folly and ferocity * The Herald *
Deeply moving ... I, for one, hope we hear plenty more from her * i news *
Full of wisdom about the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of our lives * Good Housekeeping *
Lyrical and timely * Stella *
Mysterious and beautiful. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself: so bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It's stunning writing and it has left me with hope, that we can tell stories like these even as the carbon builds, and that imagination and ideas remain powerful and valid * Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin *
Perfectly crafted,evocative prose which effortlessly transported me through two hundred and fifty years of history * Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground *
Brilliant. A stunning book of extraordinary, audacious scale * Sadie Jones, author of The Snakes *
Poetic, philosophical and wildly captivating... Anna Hope captures the human condition and feeds it treats while you watch it shimmer. Her characters dance, crawl and blast off the page, like mystical beings who are at the same time solidly human. I swam in this book and didn't want to come up for air * Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals and Adults *
I loved it. I became invested in each of the different eras and was struck by the sense of unknowable forces outliving us all. It is full of wisdom, intricate and emotional, and it will linger in my head for a long time * Dave Haslam, author of Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor *
Anna Hope is such a generous and sensitive writer, and The White Rock is full of extraordinary voices and ideas. Absolutely a story for our times, and a fiercely important one, too * Clover Stroud, author of The Red of my Blood *
I loved the sparseness, the moments of poetry, the quiet brutality. The voice throughout is fierce and graceful and utterly compelling; each central character is rich and beautifully pinpointed. It is her strongest work yet * Melody Razak, author of Moth *
The White Rock is a sublime, poetic, and visionary work of art * Ron Rash, author of In the Valley *
'If you wished Normal People had tackled female friendship, try Expectation' * GRAZIA, on Expectation *
'Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist' * GUARDIAN, on Expectation *
'Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT' * MARIAN KEYES, on Expectation *
One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year * METRO, on Expectation *
'Mysterious and beautiful. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself: so bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It's stunning writing and it has left me with hope, that we can tell stories like these even as the carbon builds, and that imagination and ideas remain powerful and valid' * Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin *

ISBN: 9780241562765

Dimensions: 222mm x 144mm x 29mm

Weight: 422g

304 pages