Damien Wilkins Libros

"A witty and sentient writer"--LA Times "Wilkins can command a breathtakingly supple literary style"--The New York Times 1928: Thomas Hardy is dying in the upstairs room of Max Gate, the house he built in his beloved Dorset. Downstairs, his literary friends are locked in a bitter fight with local supporters. Who owns Hardy's remains? Who knew him best? What are the secrets of Max Gate? Housemaid Nellie Titterington narrates this earthy and emotionally-charged novel about ambition, duty, belonging, and love. Damien Wilkins is the author of seven novels, including the New Zealand Book Award-winning The Miserables.

"Amy is a store detective at Cutty's, the oldest and grandest department store in the country. She's good at her job. She can read people and catch them. But Cutty's is closing down. Amy has a young baby, an ailing mother and a large mortgage. She also has a past as an activist. Lifting opens in a police interview room, with Amy narrating the weeks leading up to the chaotic close of Cutty's, a time when the store moves from permanent feature to ruin and when people under stress do strange things. An intense exploration of the moment when the solid ground of a life is taken away, this compelling, swiftly told novel shows how unerringly and vividly Damien Wilkins traces the stress fractures of contemporary lives"--Back cover.