Moon Tiger - by Penelope Lively (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A powerful, moving and beautifully wrought novel about the ways in which lives are molded by personal memory and the collective past."--Boston Globe

Winner of the Booker Prize - Shortlisted for the Golden Man Booker Prize

The masterpiece of one of the century's finest novelists--a deftly crafted journey through memory and across decades, between England and Egypt--now featuring a new foreword

Elderly, uncompromising Claudia Hampton lies in a London hospital bed with memories of life fluttering through her fading consciousness. An author of popular history, Claudia proclaims she's carrying out her last project: a history of the world. This history turns out to be a mosaic of her own life and the lives of those important to her. At its center is Tom--her one great love, found and lost in war-torn Egypt.

Always the independent woman, often with contentious relationships, Claudia's personal history is complex and fascinating. As people visit Claudia, they shake and twist the mosaic, changing speed, movement, and voice to reveal themselves and Claudia's impact on their world.

A classic of the late 20th century, Moon Tiger is a haunting, evocative, and dazzlingly original story of loss and desire.

Review Quotes

"A powerful, moving and beautifully wrought novel about the ways in which lives are molded by personal memory and the collective past."--Boston Globe

"Emotionally, Moon Tiger is kaleidoscopic, deeply satisfying. The all too brief encounter between Claudia and Tom will surely rate as one of the most memorable of contemporary fictional affairs. This is one of the best novels I have read for years."--The London Sunday Telegraph

"It pulls us in; it engages us and saddens us. It is also unexpectedly funny . . . It leaves its traces in the air long after you've put it away."--The New York Times Book Review

"A superb and unusually gifted writer . . . [She has] an extraordinary facility with words, structural and narrative daring, and imagery so apposite it can make your heart ache."--Guardian

"An elegant disquisition on memory, identity, age, love, and regret."--Financial Times

About the Author

Penelope Lively is the author of over twenty books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Booker Prize-winning novel Moon Tiger, as well as numerous children's books, including the Whitbread Award-winning novel A Stitch in Time.