An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell

Deborah Levy author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:And Other Stories

Published:31st Jan '23

£10.99

Available for immediate dispatch.

An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell cover

A love song between an angel and an accountant: think Patti Smith and Philip Larkin duet, with Laurel and Hardy as backing band.

A love song between an angel and an accountant in the suburbs of London from Man Booker shortlisted Levy She is a shimmering, melancholy angel, flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. He an accountant, dreaming of a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love. She attempts to fly him away from his habits and fears, while he holds on tight to all he knows. Man Booker Prize shortlisted Deborah Levy whips up a storm of romance and slapstick, of heavenly and earthly delights, in this dystopian philosophical poem about individual freedom and the search for the good life.

‘I loved this effervescent dialogue between she and He, angel and accountant, wild desire and the (ever more desirable) quotidian. It’s Deborah Levy at her wise, witty and playful best. Read it and be seduced away from (or back into) the suburbs of hell.’ Lisa Appignanesi


‘Levy just gets it entirely - the whole business of drab and yet compelling routine, and the fear of the inestimable, the longing nonetheless, the surrender each day to the ordinary, dispersing the dream, only to dream it again. An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell encapsulates all of this, redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.’ Joanna Kavenna


An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.’ Joanna Kavenna


Praise for Deborah Levy

‘Accomplished and uncanny. The strange, unpredictable journey is worth it.’ Alex Clark, Guardian

‘A major contemporary writer who never pulls her punches.’ Julia Pascal, Independent

‘Levy’s strength is her originality of thought and expression.’ Jeanette Winterson

‘She writes like a hyper-kinetic angel.’ Sunday Times

‘Angry and uninhibited, Levy's prose throbs its way into the imagination.’ Observer

ISBN: 9781913505257

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

100 pages