Astonishing Splashes of Colour - by Clare Morrall (Paperback)

About the Book

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this compelling novel takes its title from J.M. Barrie's description of Peter Pan's Neverland and follows the life of Kitty, a woman who, in a sense, has never grown up.

From the Back Cover

Taking its title from a description of Peter Pan's Neverland, Astonishing Splashes of Colour follows the life of Kitty, a woman who, in a sense, has never grown up. As her moods swing dramatically from high to low, they are illuminated by an unusual ability to interpret people and emotions through colour.

Kitty struggles to come to terms with her life, including the loss of her mother, a miscarriage, and an unconventional marriage to her husband, who lives in the apartment next door. And when her father and brothers reveal a family secret long hidden, it overwhelms Kitty's tenuous hold on reality and propels her on an impetuous journey to the brink of madness.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Review Quotes

"An extremely good first novel: deceptively simple, subtly observed, with a plot that drags you forward like a strong current." - Daily Mail (London)
"A moving novel about loss, and particularly lost children" - The Guardian (UK)
"A heart-breaking and accomplished debut." - Bookseller (London)
"...propulsive and compelling...a gripping [story]." - New York Times Book Review
"This finely constructed novel, Booker Prize (shortlist), should please readers of both popular and literary fiction." - Library Journal (starred review)
"Astonishing Splashes of Color commands us from the first page..." - Jacquelyn Mitchard
"This finely constructed novel, Booker Prize (shortlist), should please readers of both popular and literary fiction." - Library Journal
"An inprobably uplifting novel about depression and its sources." - Independent (UK)
"Absorbing and sure-footed first novel...extremely well written and cimpulsively readable...a genuinely solid and satisfying work of fiction." - Sunday Times (London)
"Wellington, a memorable heroine, narrates "Astonishing Splashes of Color," a terrific debut novel by British writer Clare Morrall." - Buffalo News
"A brave and startling book, tinted, shaded and stained like life itself." - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Astonishing Splashes of Colours is a brave and startling book, tinted, shaded and stained like life itself." - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Beautifully subtle. . . . It draws the reader in page after page." - Boston Globe
"A core of truth, suffused with a golden glow, becoming more pleasurable the more [it] wander[s]." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Equally dangerous and endearing, ASTONISHING SPLASHES OF COLOUR is a poignant tour through the many moods of loss." - Laurie Fox, author of The Lost Girls
"An ethereal novel of loss and redemption that is both heartbreaking and beautiful . . . this is a novel to be savored." - Booklist
"Compelling. . . . Morrall is a sure, sharp writer, and she understands the single-minded nature of grief." - Newsweek
"An extraordinary, gripping novel written with no sentimentality. A wonderful piece of writing" - Professor John Carey, Chair of the Man Booker Prize