Sweet Caress: The Many Lives Of Amory Clay

Author: William Boyd

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General Fields

  • : $17.99 AUD
  • : 9781408867990
  • : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • : Bloomsbury Paperbacks
  • : February 2018
  • : 17.99
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  • : books

Special Fields

  • : William Boyd
  • : 464
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Barcode 9781408867990
9781408867990

Description

Amory's first memory is of her father doing a handstand. She has memories of him returning on leave during the First World War. But his absences, both actual and emotional, are what she chiefly remembers. It is her photographer uncle Greville who supplies the emotional bond she needs, and, when he gives her a camera and some rudimentary lessons in photography, unleashes a passion that will irrevocably shape her future. A spell at boarding school ends abruptly and Amory begins an apprenticeship with Greville in London, living in his flat in Kensington, earning two pounds a week photographing socialites for fashionable magazines. But Amory is hungry for more and her search for life, love and artistic expression will take her to the demi monde of Berlin of the late 1920s, to New York of the 1930s, to the Blackshirt riots in London and to France in the Second World War where she becomes one of the first women war photographers. Her desire for experience will lead Amory to further wars, to lovers, husbands and children as she continues to pursue her dreams and battle her demons. In this enthralling story of a life fully lived, William Boyd has created a sweeping panorama of some of the most defining moments of modern history, told through the camera lens of one unforgettable woman, Amory Clay. It is his greatest achievement to date.

Awards

Shortlisted for Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2016.

Reviews

English fiction's master storyteller Independent on Sunday Serious, provocative, intelligent, Boyd's writing is endlessly open to ideas Daily Telegraph His eccentric wit and restless intelligence exert a powerful appeal New York Times The energy and inventiveness of Boyd's storytelling is breathtaking London Review of Books