“In Spring the gifted
writer David Szalay explores the complex worlds of love and money, each
with their surprises and vicissitudes. This novel made me feel in the
best way that I was eavesdropping on a series of fascinating
conversations. An insightful portrait of contemporary England.”—Margot Livesey
James is a man with a checkered past—sporadic entrepreneur, one-time film producer, almost dot- com millionaire—now alone in a flat in Bloomsbury, running a shady horse-racing tips operation. Katherine is a manager at a luxury hotel, a job she’d intended to leave years ago, and is separated from her husband. The novel unfolds in 2006, at the end of the money-for-nothing years, as a chance meeting leads to an awkward tryst, and James tries to make sense of a relationship where “no” means “maybe” and a “yes” can never be taken for granted.
David Szalay builds a novel of immense resonance as he cycles though perspectives that add layers of depth to the hesitations, missteps, and tensions as James tries to win Katherine.
Spring is a sharply tuned novel so nuanced and precise in its psychology that it establishes Szalay as a major talent.
“Szalay’s insights into the perspectives of both sexes illuminate the
complexity and fragility of romanticcoupling. His knowing eye and
exacting prose . . . bring perspicacity to the complications of love.”—Publishers Weekly
“[A] nuanced and bracingly intelligent dissection of
contemporary London life. . . . Szalay provides a sharp and occasionally
humorous portrait not only of [James and Katherine] but of the mores of 21st-century
romance among those for whom romance has had its old glamour grubbed up a bit
by age, world-weariness and the demands of everyday life. Subtle in its
psychology, elegantly written, with lively and amusing minor characters—an
impressive novel.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The lives of two disconsolately unfulfilled people start to blaze,
thanks to Szalay’s often brutal honesty . . . formidable ear for
dialogue—which transforms the most mundane exchanges into comedy, à la
Mike Leigh—and seductively sensuous descriptions.”
—Metro (U.K.)
“The forensic scrutiny of every aspect of a fledgling relationship, from
both points of view, is one of the many delights of Spring . . .
devastatingly powerful . . . also extremely funny, in that understated,
unexpected way that makes you burst into sudden noise in public places
and alarm those around you. Szalay’s dialogue is pithy and sharp; his
peripheral characters lip-smackingly delicious.”—The Independent on Sunday
“[Szalay] gets to the heart of what it means to encounter
disappointment and heartache. His characters . . . are skilled in picking up
the pieces of their broken lives and moving on to something better, however
elusive better may prove to be.”—Booklist
