I'm lying here in a bed, my head full of regret, with only a little bird flitting through a tree to comfort me. Friends want to visit, but I refuse them. So my carer Sheila has given me a task to keep me occupied. An A-Z list. Think of a part of my body for each letter. Tell a little tale about it. When I reach H for Heart, what will I say? How we loved to string crocheted hearts in trees? How our hearts steadily unravelled? So I begin with A. Adam's apple. Will you be there to catch me when I fall?
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 9780857522641
Number of pages: 272
Weight: 460 g
Dimensions: 221 x 156 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"Absolutely bloody heartrending. Hannah's eccentric style is never mawkish and often wonderfully funny" -- Kate Saunders The Times "Wonderfully quirky and contemporary. Hannah's writing has the accomplished feel of a far more experienced novelist." Observer "There's an elegance to Hannah's prose, and a compassion in the way he handles his subject matter that's rare to find in a debut." Independent "An affecting debut. Hannah proves himself a worthy inheritor of the lip-trembling English tradition." Guardian "Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read." LISA JEWELL "Hannah's debut is told on the deathbed of 40-year-old Ivo as he looks back on his life in the confidence of his nurse Sheila and the love of his life, Mia. Expect tears." Grazia "An engagingly light touch, shot through with humour" The Daily Mail "It is wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right." -- @sambakey "As The A to Z of You and Me drew to a close (with me sobbing), I thought about how kind people can be. How hard, beautiful and frustrating life is. And how we should make the effort to engage with it fully. It is, after all, fleeting at best." Stylist "I loved The A-Z of You and Me. James Hannah has an unerring eye for the tiniest detail within the biggest picture. This wry and tender love story is powerful, lyrical and moving'" Catherine O'Flynn, author of Costa prize-winning WHAT WAS LOST "Beautifully constructed and hugely moving. Deserves to be a smash hit." LISSA EVANS, author of Crooked Heart "Funny and sweet, whilst also being heartbreaking and thoroughly real throughout." TheBookBag.co.uk "What a book! I am heartbroken." @BookGeekWearsPajamas "So beautiful ... a stunning, unique debut" @caroline_Smailes "Wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right." bakeysbookblog.blogspot.co.uk "Sad and funny in equal measure but also quite uplifting about the power of the human spirit. An author who I am sure will continue to go from strength to strength." @jaffareadstoo "This book broke my heart." handwrittengirl.com "This is a really engrossing, interesting read and a book I just couldn't put down." tealadymumbles.co.uk "The story is sad, yet it is uplifting. The characters are flawed, yet human. I was very impressed by this novel. It is a delight to read and to recommend to others." randomthingsthroughmyletterbox.blogspot.co.uk "I was completely sucked into this book and flew through the pages. I loved it." www.cosybooks.com "This book has moved me and it has changed me, and isn't that what it is all about? It is only March and I don't know if anything will top this one this year for me. Essential reading." reflectionsofareader.blogspot.co.uk "Take Trainspotting, cut out the swearing, and add a filter of nuanced meditations on love: welcome to The A to Z of You and Me. I absolutely loved this book." sarahjasmon.com "'David Nicholls' school of commercial fiction. An accomplished piece of fiction, both entertaining and thought-provoking" alifeinbooks.co.uk "Spare, poignant and with a quirky charm all of its own, it reminds us how kind people can be" RACHEL JOYCE "Wonderful and heartbreaking." CLAIRE FULLER, Desmond Elliott Prize winner 2015 "Hannah writes with emotional acuity. Warm, wry, thoughtful and devastating in places, this is a life-enhancing missive from death's door." The Sunday Times