About this item
Alfred Busi lives alone in his villa overlooking the waves. Famed in his tiny Mediterranean town for his music, he is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days. Then one night, Busi is viciously attacked by an intruder in his own courtyard - bitten and scratched. He insists his assailant was neither man nor animal.. Soon, Busis account of what happened is being embellished to fan the flames of old rumor - of an ancient race of people living in the surrounding forest. It is also used to spark new controversy, inspiring claims that something must finally be done about the towns poor, whose numbers have been growing.. In trademark crystalline prose, Jim Crace portrays a man taking stock of his life and looking into an uncertain future, while bearing witness to a community in the throes of great change.
About the Author
James "Jim" Crace is an award-winning English writer. His novel , won the award and was shortlisted for the won the and was also shortlisted for the Crace grew up in Forty Hill, an area at the far northern point of Greater London, close to Enfield where Crace attended Enfield Grammar School. He studied for a degree at the Birmingham College of Commerce (now part of Birmingham City University) , where he was enrolled as an external student of the University of London. After securing a BA (Hons) in English Literature in 1968, he travelled overseas with the UK organization Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) , working in Sudan. Two years later he returned to the UK, and worked with the BBC, writing educational programmes. From 1976 to 1987 he worked as a freelance journalist for The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers. In 1986 Crace published won the , the and the . This work was followed by The and . His most recent novel, , was published in the UK in March 2007. Despite living in Britain, Crace is more successful in the United States, as evidenced by the award of the in 1999.
