Mrs Fox Read online

  From the heathered fells and lowlands of Cumbria to the speed and heat of a London summer, to an eerily still lake in the Finnish wilderness, Sarah Hall evokes landscapes with extraordinary precision and grace. Her characters, whether a frustrated housewife seeking an exhilarating encounter or a young woman contemplating the death of her lover, experience dark devices and desires – the human body providing a sensuous frame for each unfolding drama.

  ‘Exquisite.’ Lionel Shriver, Financial Times

  Available in paperback and ebook now

  Haweswater

  Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

  It is 1936 in a remote dale in the old, northern county of Westmorland. When a man from Manchester arrives, spokesman for a vast industrial project to create a new reservoir, the villagers must come to terms with the fact that this corner of Lakeland will be transformed. Jack Liggett, the Waterworks representative, begins a troubled and intense affair with Janet Lightburn from the village. A woman of force and strength of mind, her natural orthodoxy deeply influences him. Finally, in tragic circumstances, a remarkable, desperate act on Janet’s part attempts to restore the valley to its former state.

  ‘Strikingly original.’ Margaret Forster

  Available in paperback and ebook now

  The Electric Michelangelo

  Shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize

  On the windswept front of Morecambe Bay, Cy Parks spends his childhood years first in a guest house for consumptives run by his mother and then as apprentice to alcoholic tattoo artist Eliot Riley. Thirsty for new experiences, he departs for America and finds himself in the riotous world of the Coney Island boardwalk, where he sets up his own business as ‘The Electric Michelangelo’. In this carnival environment of roller-coasters and freak-shows, Cy becomes enamoured with Grace, a mysterious immigrant and circus performer who commissions him to cover her entire body in tattooed eyes.

  ‘Hugely atmospheric.’ Independent

  Available in paperback and ebook now

  The Carhullan Army

  Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize

  Jackie and a group of fellow rebel women have escaped the Authority's repressive regime, forming a militia in the far north of Cumbria. Sister, brought to breaking point by the restrictions imposed on her own life, decides to join them. Though her journey is frightening and dangerous, she believes her struggle will soon be over. But Jackie’s single-minded vision for the army means that Sister must decide all over again what freedom is, and whether she is willing to fight for it.

  ‘As rich and exhilarating as it is disturbing.’ The Times

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  About the Author

  Sarah Hall was born in Cumbria in 1974. She is the author of four novels, Haweswater, The Electric Michelangelo, The Carhullan Army and How to Paint a Dead Man, and winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Betty Trask Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Portico Prize. The Electric Michelangelo was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and longlisted for the Orange Prize.

  The Beautiful Indifference, her collection of short stories, won the Edge Hill Prize and Reader’s Award, and was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. The first story in the collection, ‘Butchers Perfume’, was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, a prize she won in 2013 with ‘Mrs Fox’, a story inspired by David Garnett’s 1922 novella Lady Into Fox.

  By the Same Author

  Haweswater

  The Electric Michelangelo

  The Carhullan Army

  How to Paint a Dead Man

  The Beautiful Indifference

  Copyright

  First published in paperback in 2014 by Faber & Faber Ltd

  Bloomsbury House, 74–77 Great Russell Street

  London WC1B 3DA

  This ebook edition first published in 2014

  All rights reserved

  © Sarah Hall, 2014

  The right of Sarah Hall to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

  ISBN 978–0–571–31568-0