{"title":"Xan Brooks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-clocks-in-this-house-all-tell-different-times-9781784630935","title":"The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2018\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2017 Costa First Novel Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2018\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2018  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA dark social-realist fairytale, spotlighting the shadowy underside of 1920s England\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSummer 1923: the modern world. Orphaned Lucy Marsh climbs into the back of an old army truck and is whisked off to the woods north of London – a land haunted by the past, where lost souls and monsters conceal themselves in the trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a sunlit clearing she meets the ‘funny men’, a quartet of disfigured ex-soldiers named after Dorothy’s companions in \u003cem\u003eThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u003c\/em\u003e. Here are the loved and the damaged, dark forests and darker histories, and the ever-present risk of discovery and violent retribution. Xan Brooks’ stunning debut is heartbreaking, disturbing and redemptive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The assurance and skill with which Xan Brooks tells his tale in \u003cem\u003eThe Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times\u003c\/em\u003e makes it difficult to believe that this is a first novel. By turns funny and tragic, awful and lovely, terrifying and warming, it’s a book told with rare elegance and narrative zest. The post-Great War England the novel depicts is a land of exhausted decay and weird encounters, filled with fake spiritualists, war heroes turned into monsters, and repulsive aristocrats. Its twisted humour and dark satire reminded me above all of Graham Greene, and that is not a comparison one makes lightly. I absolutely loved it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLloyd Shepherd, author of The English Monster\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e Fiction to look out for in 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times\u003c\/em\u003e (Salt) by Xan Brooks – a fairytale wrapped within a historical novel, it’s as quixotic and dreamlike as Ishiguro’s \u003cem\u003eThe Buried Giant\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlex Preston, author of In Love and War\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Thrilling, disturbing and somehow very funny … a bold, ambitious, weird novel with a lot of foliage to get lost in’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHannah Jane Parkinson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A book with heart and soul that is original, penetrative and engaging. It should be relished by every discerning reader.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNever Imitate\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Philly Malicka enjoys a strange fable about drugs. jazz and the scars of the Great War ... The year is 1923 and the trauma of the First World War has left Britain misshapen. Part of society hopes for social change, while others, ossified, look backward. This dark, magical tale explores the chasm between the two, and how a nation ravaged by “the storms of the things they once did, the people they once were” seeks redemption.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhilly Malicka\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Genuinely amazing: quirky, thought-provoking, a wonderful read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnne Goodwin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The Pink Earl’s stately home, where the clocks all tell different times, may be a relic from a vanished past, but the future is massively present there – and it’s the one we recognise, in which everyone is “embarked on their own adventure” and in which the rhetoric of constant change at one level disguises the perpetuation of entrenched power at another.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eM. John Harrison\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This will be familiar to fans of \u003cem\u003eDecline And Fall\u003c\/em\u003e. But what Evelyn Waugh treated satirically isn’t so funny any more, and this well-written novel is more tender and sad than bitingly hilarious.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFanny Blake\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With its finely judged atmosphere of tainted innocence, Brooks’s novel frames the real horrors of post-conflict trauma as episodes of near-fairytale jeopardy: the grown-up terrors in the dark wood and the poisonous intoxications of the great house are trials in which his heroine’s strength of character is forged. As in fairy stories, the happy-ever-after consists of the simplest of fulfilled desires: a home, work, a family: love as ordinary and essential as bread.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Shilling\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The novel is a rich tapestry that interweaves the social fabric of interwar England with fairy tale touches. Lucy comes to feel that “the world is confusing, but the forest is not”, poignantly conveying the strangeness of the period. The author has a fabulously visual style, and I loved the ensemble of characters - some haunted, some scarred, all of them nimbly conjured by a debut author with considerable talent.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJoanne Owen\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLovereading\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The opening section and the overall premise of Xan Brooks’s debut novel is fascinating. Taken away from the pub she lives in with her grandfather for the afternoon, orphaned Lucy Marsh goes into the woods to meet ‘the funny men’. Alongside four other young people whose life circumstances have left them equally vulnerable, Lucy goes for a picnic with these funny men who she will soon know as The Tin Man, Toto, the Scarecrow, and The Lion. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that there is something sinister about five pre-teen children being taken to the woods to meet with four men who disguise themselves as characters from a children’s classic, but Brooks does a fantastic job of drip-feeding us the necessary information until we come to see the true nature of these interactions and realise that the ‘funny men’ are actually traumatised war veterans no longer comfortable in the real world.’ —\u003cem\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I don’t know what I was expecting going in to this book, but honestly what I got wasn’t anything like I imagined. Trying to explain what this book was is difficult – because honestly it’s very unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It was absolutely mesmerising, but also quite an uncomfortable read in places, and I really enjoyed it.’ —\u003cem\u003eAshleigh’s Bookshelf\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Brooks writes stunningly and paints a dark, imaginative picture so vivid I could see it made into a film.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCaz Roberts\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eGrazia\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Set after the first world war, is a macabre and unsettling tale of a young girl who is made a plaything of the “funny men”, a group of damaged soldiers, so badly injured they have removed themselves from the world completely. The novel has a woozy, tainted fairytale quality – Brooks calls these molten men of his the Tin Man and the Scarecrow – and a heightened aspect, like looking at the world through a cracked magnifying glass. It’s a bizarre, horror-flecked novel, pleasingly distinctive in its oddness.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNatasha Tripney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Whilst this is essentially about an alternate coming of age, set at a time when people are trying to adjust and cope post war, there is focus on living to excess, without care for the consequences and how for some, non-conformity is embraced. There is rising tension and dense escalating drama running through the story. There is offset by some limited and subtle dark humour. But in all, people are trying to make sense of the world and deal with the fall out of war. The perspectives of the soldiers with life changing injuries is unforgettable. The characters are strong, bold and intriguing. But ultimately we are all vulnerable, and perhaps there is a deeper thread about how we choose to live despite such vulnerability whilst also being true to ourselves.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSara Garland\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNudge Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A stunning, beautifully written debut by Xan Brooks … A masterful first novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSophie Raworth\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRead by Raworth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xan Brooks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":32732615690,"sku":"9781784630935","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784630935_bd40982b-ff42-4d15-a37e-d7e40f98936d.jpg?v=1739612825"},{"product_id":"the-catchers-9781784633202","title":"The Catchers","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Bristles with expertly calibrated menace and moral ambiguity’ —\u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Elegant and eloquent’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘A propulsive narrative that immediately grabs our interest’ —\u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/cite\u003e is a delight’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Hugely atmospheric’ —\u003ccite\u003eIndependent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘An evocative musical road trip’ —\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘A spacious, sweeping novel’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘This incisive, sharply written novel.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSelected by Martin Chilton for ‘The 20 best books of the year’ —\u003ccite\u003eIndependent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpring 1927. The birth of popular music. John Coughlin is a song-catcher from New York who has been sent to Appalachia to source and record the local hill-country musicians. His assignment leads him to small-town Tennessee where he oversees the recording session that will establish his reputation. From here he ventures further south in search of glory. He is chasing what song-catchers call the big fish or the firefly; the song or performer which will make a man rich.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWaylaid at an old plantation house, Coughlin gets wind of a black teenage guitarist, Moss Evans, who runs bootleg liquor in the Mississippi Delta. The Mississippi has flooded, putting the country underwater, but Coughlin is able to locate the boy and bring him out. Coughlin views himself as a saviour. Others regard him as a thief and exploiter. Coughlin and Moss – the catcher and his catch – pick their way across a ruined, unstable Old South and then turn north through the mountains, heading for New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An absolutely cracking read, immersive, carefully observed and furiously written.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJan Carson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eBooks of the Month\u003c\/strong\u003e ★★★★ Brooks’s novel is hugely atmospheric, neatly capturing an era when it feels like “everything is accelerating”, and it brings to life a world of hustlers looking for the gold rush of a hit song in captivating style. The story is full of vivid, shocking characters – The Troller, Colonel Bird, the feral Grady Boys – and memorable descriptions (“straight-backed old women with windfall apple faces”. The pulsating plot rattles along, rather like Coughlin’s old automobile, but this is also a tale with potent and disturbing things to say about profiteering and the racism that blights America.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMartin Chilton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIndependent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I'm delighted to report that this book contains the same fantastic writing as Xan Brooks’ first novel. He has created the most wonderful cast of characters that Coughlin meets along his travels and has again shown his ability to create humour and pathos in unlikely places … I really can't recommend this book highly enough, it deserves a very wide audience and recognition.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlexandra Foster\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Precious Words\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Immersive … \u003cem\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/em\u003e dramatises a unique period of American history with subtlety and an impressive amount of period detail.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJude Cook\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe Best Historical Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e – Elegant and eloquent, this is a cautionary tale of melody and myth-making, where the grim realities of exploitation tussle with the transformative power of music.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eTen Great New Novels\u003c\/strong\u003e – In 2027, it will be the centenary of the Mississippi Delta flood, an event that added an extra layer of complication to the process. This is the background to \u003ccite\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/cite\u003e, the name given to those pioneers who fanned out in search of songs to “catch” on their cumbersome “musical lathe”. In 1927 few, if any, had penetrated far into the Delta, where there were Black musicians in abundance, but their gold had to be somehow extracted from the sludge of Jim Crow society – the plantation, the prisons and the poverty.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEd Needham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eStrong Words\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Racism and the ambivalent relationship between the two men – is Coughlin Moss's saviour or another white exploiter? – threaten their progress in this incisive, sharply written novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNick Rennison\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/em\u003e is a spacious, sweeping novel whose canvas covers the wilds of Appalachia, raw poverty coexisting with luxury; but the author homes in on the figures in the landscape and makes you feel for the opportunistic catcher and the mistrustful boy who could bring him his big hit.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLee Langley\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Brooks turns this voyage of discovery into something of a magical quest, layered with memorable characters and thoughtful ideas on racism, exploitation and naked greed.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBen East\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘It’s smartly told, featuring fine period details and solid dialogue.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNJ McGarrigle\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The author immerses us in the period and various locations, as well as recalling the horrific racism of the time. Several of his unsavoury characters, some gloriously Dickensian, are the stuff of nightmares, while the central relationship of Coughlin and Moss — and their mutual distrust — is utterly credible. Brooks’s vivid depiction of the Mississippi flood of 1927, “dogs climbing trees, bears grabbing driftwood” and its tragic aftermath, is hard to shake.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLucy Popescu\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/cite\u003e is a finely wrought romp, a picaresque odyssey replete with shady characters galore and all manner of high-jinx, but the book doesn’t shy away from flagging up the business model that the record companies rely on to make their riches. It’s a tale about capitalism, red in tooth and claw, with those holding the means of production and distribution all singing from the same sheet. Their song? Exploitation.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Crack Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Brooks’s world-building is ­impressive, his characters striking and authentic and the horror of the Great Mississippi Flood is particularly well rendered … A compelling read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEstelle Birdy\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The journey out of the delta takes us into a world of Southern gothic that bristles with expertly calibrated menace and moral ambiguity.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHarry Strawson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This book deals with some of the most painful episodes of African American history, and one can’t help being conscious at times of Brooks as a white British writer, a disconnection made more treacherous by the fact that the book is itself about cultural appropriation. Brooks is clearly well aware of this problem, and deals with it boldly, letting his Black characters feel a hatred that is sometimes ugly, while showing the white characters meriting that hatred, even as they are fully human. And as historical fiction, \u003ccite\u003eThe Catchers\u003c\/cite\u003e is a delight. It puts us in a world that feels both fantastical and achingly real, at once completely alien and vividly our own.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSandra Newman\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A fairytale wrapped within a historical novel, it’s as quixotic and dreamlike as Ishiguro’s \u003ccite\u003eThe Buried Giant\u003c\/cite\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlex Preston, author of In Love and War\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This will be familiar to fans of \u003cem\u003eDecline And Fall\u003c\/em\u003e. But what Evelyn Waugh treated satirically isn’t so funny any more, and this well-written novel is more tender and sad than bitingly hilarious.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFanny Blake\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘With its finely judged atmosphere of tainted innocence, Brooks’s novel frames the real horrors of post-conflict trauma as episodes of near-fairytale jeopardy: the grown-up terrors in the dark wood and the poisonous intoxications of the great house are trials in which his heroine’s strength of character is forged. As in fairy stories, the happy-ever-after consists of the simplest of fulfilled desires: a home, work, a family: love as ordinary and essential as bread.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Shilling\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Set after the first world war, is a macabre and unsettling tale of a young girl who is made a plaything of the “funny men”, a group of damaged soldiers, so badly injured they have removed themselves from the world completely. The novel has a woozy, tainted fairytale quality – Brooks calls these molten men of his the Tin Man and the Scarecrow – and a heightened aspect, like looking at the world through a cracked magnifying glass. It’s a bizarre, horror-flecked novel, pleasingly distinctive in its oddness.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNatasha Tripney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A stunning, beautifully written debut by Xan Brooks … A masterful first novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSophie Raworth\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eRead by Raworth\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Brooks writes stunningly and paints a dark, imaginative picture so vivid I could see it made into a film.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCaz Roberts\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eGrazia\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The year is 1923 and the trauma of the First World War has left Britain misshapen. Part of society hopes for social change, while others, ossified, look backward. This dark, magical tale explores the chasm between the two, and how a nation ravaged by “the storms of the things they once did, the people they once were” seeks redemption.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhilly Malicka\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xan Brooks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47219429310764,"sku":"9781784633202","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633202_37383c2f-04e1-49e3-bc04-86a0c51e98dd.jpg?v=1746457827"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.saltpublishing.com\/collections\/xan-brooks.oembed","provider":"Salt","version":"1.0","type":"link"}