The Slowworm’s Song
- Author Andrew Miller
- Narrator James Lailey
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Run Time 9 hours and 24 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Civil wars, Fiction: general and literary, Modern and contemporary fiction, Modern warfare, Narrative theme: Interior life.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- £15.99
- £14.99
- £13.99
- £12.99
- £11.99
Listen to a sample
What to expect
An ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with the daughter he barely knows when he receives a summons - to an inquiry into an incident during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
It is the return of what Stephen hoped he had outdistanced. Above all, to testify would jeopardise the fragile relationship with his daughter. And if he loses her, he loses everything.
Instead, he decides to write her an account of his life; a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time. But time is running out, and the day comes when he must face again what happened in that faraway summer of 1982.
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Critics Review
-
The theme is handled in a way that is bolder and more exquisitely menacing than anything he’s done before . . . It’s all real, and all fictional, gorgeously so. You read what might have been a perfectly commonplace story of failure and redemption with your pulse racing, all your senses awake . . . restrained, beautifully written
Guardian -
I spent the first half of The Slowworm’s Song in a sort of ecstasy, marvelling at Miller’s masterful characterisation; his confident evocation of army life and sensitive depiction of the Troubles; the nuanced exploration of alcoholism; the clean, well-made prose style studded with moments of descriptive beauty . . . Stephen is an unforgettable character, and Miller has pulled off the miraculous feat of sketching a full human life in a few hundred pages
Sunday Times -
A beautiful, lambent, timely novel that admits our worst capacities while insisting on accountability and our ability to improve. Andrew Miller is among those brave male writers steering a progressive course. Yet he remains, as ever, unique, visionary, a master at unmasking humanity
Sarah Hall -
Gorgeously written . . . it approaches the Troubles from a unique angle . . . Since his debut, Ingenious Pain, Miller has shown a knack for historical immersion, and he continues to excel in it here
Literary Review -
The focused interiority of Stephen’s narration, together with the slowburning fuse of a plot, make for a quiet intensity that stretches the nerves . . . this empathic and artful novel is about both the mysteries we are to ourselves, and the power of speech
Daily Mail -
A painful yet beautiful novel . . . Miller is a wonderful storyteller, as comfortable writing about the Napoleonic wars as the Troubles . . . In this novel, Stephen’s reckoning may be extreme but his message is universal
Spectator
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