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Bolt from the Blue

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( 188 ratings, 33 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Bolt from the Blue by Jeremy Cooper is a poignant exploration of the emotional and evolving relationship between a mother and her artist daughter. It unfolds through a series of letters exchanged over decades, offering insights into their personal growth, artistic challenges, and the complex nuances of familial bonds. The narrative beautifully captures the interplay of art, life, and the passage of time.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4600

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate novels that explore complex family dynamics and delve into the intricacies of personal relationships. The story offers a rich narrative infused with emotional depth, ideal for readers who enjoy thoughtful and character-driven tales.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A novel in epistolary form, Bolt from the Blue charts the relationship between a mother and her artistic daughter over the course of thirty-odd years, and offers a partial and subjective account of British contemporary art since the mid-1980s.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In Bolt from the Blue, Jeremy Cooper, the winner of the 2018 Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize, charts the relationship between a mother and daughter over the course of thirty-odd years. In October 1985, Lynn moves down to London to enrol at Saint Martin's School of Art, leaving her mother behind in a suburb of Birmingham.

Their relationship is complicated, and their primary form of contact is through the letters, postcards, and emails they send each other periodically, while Lynn slowly makes her mark on the London art scene.

A novel in epistolary form, Bolt from the Blue captures the waxing and waning of the mother-daughter relationship over time, achieving a rare depth of feeling with a deceptively simple literary form.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Bolt from the Blue by Jeremy Cooper is an epistolary novel that explores the intricacies of a mother-daughter relationship over three decades through letters. Reviewers praise the book for its depth and emotional power, offering a sensitive portrayal of evolving relationships and capturing a unique snapshot of London's art scene. The novel's restrained prose and emphasis on the art of letter-writing add to its allure, making it a compelling and thought-provoking read.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781913097462

Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 January 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 125.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 272

About the Author

Jeremy Cooper is a writer and art historian, author of five previous novels and several works of non-fiction, including the standard work on nineteenth century furniture, studies of young British artists in the 1990s, and, in 2019, the British Museum's catalogue of artists' postcards. Early on he appeared in the first twenty-four of BBC's Antiques Roadshow and, in 2018, won the first Fitzcarraldo Editions Novel Prize for Ash before Oak.

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