The Unpredictability of Frogs: There are many ways we destroy each another - love is just one of them. - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

There are many ways we destroy each other – love is just one of them.

This intelligent debut novel, drawing its inspiration from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, is a confessional tale of love, loss, fragmentation and, finally – peace, yet it is skilfully interwoven with enough sardonic wit and popular culture to make it a most engaging read with a powerful philosophical punch. Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey

The intensity of misplaced love, bad timing, the devastation of loss, and then understanding – which comes, alas, too late – all of these will strike a chord with many people. For all its serious themes, there is a lot of wry observational humour in this moving literary novel.Richard Morrison, Chief Culture Writer, The Times

Few female writers can pull off a convincing male narrator; Janet Taylor does it in spades. A paean to the power of memory and lost love. Sophia Myles, actress

Alistair is a middle-aged university lecturer, who has been disengaged from life for so long, that he is in danger of dying before waking up and living.

Into his world comes a young student, Anna, who triggers an intense romantic awakening, but their ill-fated relationship precipitates a series of life-changing events. Their passionate infatuation is tested during the summer spent in Tuscany where tragically their lives completely disintegrate and both suffer terrible losses.

‘She was like the light from a dead star, seemingly so tangible, and yet only really real in the past.
"God, I missed her. I missed her so much. I miss her still. I will always miss her…’

Can they ever repair their broken lives?

In an attempt to heal himself, Alistair begins to write the story of their affair. He believes he is writing about the past, but as he writes, his present life breaks through and the past becomes inextricably intertwined with the present. Through voyaging through this wasteland of lost love, Alistair discovers that there is more to life and love than he ever thought possible and learns what it is to live.

But what about Anna? Have the events of that summer had a lasting impact on her life?

Although often heart-rending, this story of finding love and losing it again also abounds with observational humour and a host of well-drawn characters, particularly strong female roles. Thematically, it draws inspiration from T.S. Eliot’s poem, ‘The Waste Land’, re-imagining some of the major themes and images including: dislocation, sterility, sexuality, religious uncertainty, the impact of high and low culture, and the overall confusion of trying to make sense of the world and our fragmented experience of it.

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