Author simon mawer is an excellent writer and tightrope is a good book. From the author of the bestselling and booker prizeshortlisted the glass room and trapeze an historical thriller that brings. From the author of the bestselling and booker prizeshortlisted the glass room and trapeze. In marian simon mawer has created a complex, contradictory heroine, emotionally fragile, endlessly resourceful, and unrepentantly amorous. What initially seemed to be a sort of alan fursttype historical fiction of a novel became a 500 page bore of a story. Tightrope ebook by simon mawer 9781590517246 rakuten kobo. That same woman, marian sutro, returns in tightropeand so does mawers full. As part of an underground resistance operation, marian parachuted into nazioccupied europe. The gospel of judas, the fall winner of the 2003 boardman tasker prize for mountain literature, and swimming to. Nov 03, 2015 by simon mawer from the author of the bestselling and booker prizeshortlisted the glass room and trapeze.
Tightrope, by simon mawer, is a sequel to his previous novel, the girl who fell from the sky. Simon mawer s tightrope was quite a disappointment. Oct 15, 2015 the characters in simon mawers latest spy thriller, tightrope, set in the gray, exhausted, murky days of postworld war ii england, spend a lot of time in tense encounters that pivot on. His fifth book mendels dwarf established simon mawer as a prolific author on either side of the atlantic with new york times terming the novel as a thematically ambitious and humorous novel. Jun 04, 2015 author simon mawer is an excellent writer and tightrope is a good book. Dec 21, 2015 tightrope, by simon mawer the novels primary storyline begins approximately where mawers last novel, trapeze other press, 2012, left off. Mawer studied zoology at brasenose college, oxford and has worked as a biology teacher.
Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. Through a series of flashbacks that extended from the mid1940s to the present, the heroics and adventures of the heroine are revealed, albeit very, very slowly. In simon mawer s tightrope, a female spy masters the tools of her trade sarah lyall, the new york times, oct. Start a free 30day trial today and get your first audiobook free. Into sams reluctant care falls a worldfamous russian pianist who pleads for asylum for himself and his violinist girlfriend.
Mar 12, 2019 simon mawer is author of eleven novels and two non fiction books. Successful historical fiction tightrope by simon mawer a. He is one of the most accomplished novelists today scotsman. Tightrope simon mawer abacus about the author simon mawer was born in 1948 in england, and spent his childhood there, in cyprus and in malta. He published his first novel, chimera, at the comparatively late age of thirtynine and it went on to win the mckitterick prize for first novels. Trapeze, may 2012 mawers control of his themes of language, desire, memory and the power of place is extraordinary. Mawers trapeze offers a heroine more worldlywise than she was in the first book. Simon mawer on tightrope martin pengelly, the guardian, nov. Mawer blows the dust off the history and makes it matter as you read.
Read tightrope a novel by simon mawer available from rakuten kobo. The followup to the girl who fell from the sky recalls vintage le carre. Jewish newlyweds viktor and liesel landauer build their dream home, and despite the low hum of the german war machine reverberating through the land, the two look forward to a life of promise. The glass room, published by little, brown in january 2009, was on the man booker shortlist. I initially felt that it was a bit difficult to get into the rhythm and flow of tightrope by simon mawer. I like simon mawer s writing style his characters are believable and it is interesting as the plot moves from the end of ww2 to the early part of the cold war. Tightrope, by simon mawer the novels primary storyline begins approximately where mawers last novel, trapeze other press, 2012, left off. An historical thriller that brings back marian sutro, exspecial operati. In simon mawers tightrope, a female spy masters the. As allied forces close in on berlin in spring 1945, a solitary figure emerges from the wreckage that is germany. The gospel of judas, the fall winner of the 2003 boardman tasker prize for mountain literature, and.
Mawer is also the author of the glass room and other novels. Tightrope tells a dramatic story about one woman testing the boundaries of loyalty as one kind of war gives way to a shadowy new one. Jun 10, 2015 the trouble with tightrope is that, while the result is often undeniably entertaining, this respect seems to grow increasingly slavish the longer the book goes on. Tightrope is effectively a sequel to mawer s the girl who fell from the sky. In october last year i went to the boston book festival and simon mawer was there talking about his latest book tightrope, which i learned was a sequel to trapeze. In simon mawers tightrope, a female spy masters the tools of her trade sarah lyall, the new york times, oct. Here we have another gifted british writer of idea.
Following on from the post on kate atkinsons life after life, today im looking at tightrope by simon mawer, another award winning historical novel a long list of award winners can be found here. From the author of the bestselling and booker prizeshortlisted the glass room and trapeze an historical thriller that brings back marian sutro, exspecial operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in postworld war ii london, where the cold war is about to reshape old loyalties as. From the author of the bestselling and booker prizeshortlisted the glass room and trapeze an historical thriller tha. In simon mawers tightrope, a female spy masters the tools of her. My love of his books started with a novel i picked up a few years back called the glass room and continues to this day. Sometimes it was a bit difficult to follow the storyline as.
Shortlisted for the man booker prize, simon mawers the glass room brilliantly evokes six decades of eastern european history, beginning in 1930s czechoslovakia. Tightrope by simon mawer 2015, paperback for sale online ebay. I picked up trapeze a few years later and it sat on my tbr stack for quite some time. Listen to tightrope by simon mawer available from rakuten kobo. Mawer exhibits a great feeling for suspense, and produces memorable episodes in dark alleyways, deserted cafes, and shadowy corners of pere lachaise. I can advise you to read tightrope as it is wellwritten.
Tightrope by simon mawer 2015, paperback for sale online. In 2015 he published tightrope, a followon novel from the girl who fell from the sky. What made the experience of listening to tightrope the most enjoyable. Tightrope by simon mawer, 9780349140742, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide.
In the opening sections of the book, mawer captures marians disorientation with. Wikimedia commons has media related to simon mawer. Tightrope by simon mawer is narrated by kate reading and i thought she did a good job of narrating tightrope. I dont think you have had to have read girl to understand tightrope, but you might as well. Simon mawers last book the girl who fell from the sky marked a serious. Its a novel i recall fondlya magnificent story that tracks marians training and challenges working in espionage during the war.
I just wish i cared about marian sutro more than i did. Mendels dwarf 1997, his first book to be published in the u. Buy tightrope by simon mawer from amazons fiction books store. I like simon mawers writing style his characters are believable and it is interesting as the plot moves from the end of ww2 to the early part of the cold war. Mawer sensitively evokes the crushing normality of postwar britain. Most recently, he wrote prague spring 2018 about brits living in and travelling through czechoslovakia during both the prague spring and subsequent warsaw pact invasion. Simon mawer is a true master of literary espionage.
It is marian sutro, whose existence was last known to her british controllers in autumn 1943 in paris when she was captured by the gestapo. His first novel, chimera, won the mckitterick prize for first novels in 1989. Prague spring, by simon mawer, little, brown, 395pp. Simon mawer has 15 books on goodreads with 43643 ratings. The girl who fell from the sky abacus paperback, may 20. In simon mawers tightrope, a female spy masters the tools. An historical thriller that brings back marian sutro, exspecial operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in postworld war ii london, where the cold war is about to reshape old loyalties. It not as good as the glass room, but then very few books are as good as room. This captivating historical thriller brings back marian sutro, exspecial operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Tightrope is an historical thriller that brings back marian sutro, exspecial operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in postworld war ii london, where the cold war.
Being able to pick up marian sutros story from where the previous book finished. In tightrope, author simon mawer focuses once again on marian sutro, the central figure in 2011s trapeze which details marians experiences during wwii. So its probably worth a quick recap, for those struggling to keep up with the great avalanche of books that tend to. That same woman, marian sutro, returns in tightropeand so does mawers full commitment to respecting the thriller conventions. Successful historical fiction tightrope by simon mawer. Simon mawer is at the ediburgh international book festival on august. Listening time for tightrope by simon mawer is 14 hours, 20 minutes.
The characters in simon mawers latest spy thriller, tightrope, set in the gray, exhausted, murky days of postworld war ii england, spend a lot of time in tense encounters that pivot on. The book won mckitterick prize for the category of the first book by a write over the age of forty. Tightrope is an historical thriller that brings back marian sutro, exspecial operations agent, and traces her romantic and political exploits in. Educated at millfield school in somerset and at brasenose college, oxford, mawer worked as a biology teacher for many years. Tightrope is a compelling novel about identity and deception which constantly surprises the reader. The trouble with tightrope is that, while the result is often undeniably entertaining, this respect seems to grow increasingly slavish the longer the book goes on.