Pure

(Hardback, UK ed.)

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Description

"It is Timothy Mo's boldness and sheer skill that make the improbable believable, moving and often funny." - The Spectator

Timothy Mo's first novel in a decade is set within the battle for secession in the Muslim regions of southern Thailand. Pure covers epic expanses of time and is told through multiple narrators who range from fanatical zealots to decorated Oxbridge dons. In the unlikely and apparently incompatible figures of his principals, local or foreign, disreputable or distinguished, young or old, Mo shows how the cultural wars of today and the clashing traditions of the past play out into the unforeseen conclusions of tomorrow. Characters who at first are repellent or intimidating receive fair and even sympathetic treatment at the hands of a novelist who throughout his career has striven to see the world through eyes that are not his own. Everything that Mo's readers expect abound in this long-awaited novel: versatile style, memorable and original characters, profound insight into those tormented by dual loyalties and the ability to handle the weightiest of themes with a light touch. Most of these situations have been untouched by any other contemporary novelist yet Pure themes are among the most important of the day.

Reviews

"Pure joy from Mo Both joyous and heartbreaking, this mash-up of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Reluctant Fundamentalist will keep you entertained and leave you sadder and wiser. -- Jake Kerridge * The Sunday Express *
Flamboyant humour in a tale of terrorism... [Timothy] returns, his verbal pyrotechnics undimmed and his angry, scabrous humour intact. -- Siobhan Murphy * Metro *