Falling - Couverture souple

"He writes with impressive directness and simplicity at moments of passion-One is aware of the compassionate intelligence that is discreetly but continuously at work in this book" (Sebastian Faulks Independent)

"'Colin Thubron's voice is unique'" (Anita Brookner Spectator)

"Impeccably crafted and beautifully written-many books which are highly enjoyable in the reading leave no imprint on the imagination. This one does" (P. D. James Daily Telegraph)

"Mark Swabey, a provincial journalist, is serving a prison sentence in connection with the death of Clara the Swallow, a circus acrobat with whom he fell in love. And the grief-stricken Swabey looks back on their brief affair, the exact nature of his responsibility for Clara's death is movingly revealed-every sentence is informed by the most intense anguish'" (Michael Dibdin Observer)

"Thubron weaves a skilful, poignant story of love and loss, and also reinvents the myth of the Fall-This novel is above all celebratory. It trumpets the right to walk out on the high wire, to love dangerously and hopelessly - even if death (real or metaphorical) is the price" (Bel Mooney Sunday Times)

From the crowd below a journalist watches, as a circus girl performs her strangely daring trapeze act, and is captivated by her beauty, outrageous costumes and exotic make-up in such a way that he finds himself falling helplessly in love with her. But it is from a prison cell that the journalist remembers what happened - a prison like a microcosm of the world outside, where there are those who risk, and those who are self-incarcerated. Exploring the courage to aim beyond human limitation, Falling is an intensely moving story of love and loss.