Still Here

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Description

Alix, arrogant, middle-aged and angry comes home to the derelict port of Liverpool as her mother lies dying. Irritably resigned to living alone for the rest of her life she suddenly finds herself erotically attracted to a stranger. Joseph is an American architect who has come to the city to build a hotel. Refusing to accept that his wife has left him or the trauma of a war he once fought in, the question is whether these survivors of the battles of the Seventies are meant for each other or not. And what happened to a factory in Dresden which long ago made the perfect face cream . . .

Reviews

Grant [is] a thoughtful and provoking commentator Guardian

Expertly interweaving the trivial and profound... Still Here was deservedly long-listed for the Booker Prize Observer

'It's a testament to Grant's skill that she can create a novel at once so serious and so readable' Independent on Sunday

'A passionate meaty book ... ultimately rewarding' Mail on Sunday

'Tough, lusty and resolutely unreconstructed, Alix is an unconventional, strikingly memorable creation' Harpers & Queen

'Alix Rebick is the heroine of Linda Grant's Still Here, and at the age of 49 is still feisty, lustful, and larger than life--all the things that "real women" shouldn't be, according to Joseph Shields. She's also single, and hating it. "What do I want Rapture. When do I want it Now...You can't kill it in me...There is no point in looking for consolation in gardening, knitting, good works, pets, travel, cookery, country walks..."

Alix is back in Liverpool watching over her dying mother; Joseph is an American architect, building a hotel as part of Liverpool's regeneration. They meet: she wants him; he admires her, but longs to reunite with his wife Erica back in Chicago. The alternating first-person chapters each ruminate about the past, speculate about the future, and only occasionally refer to the other, despite their involvement--or lack of it--being presented as the novel's pivotal

Author Bio

Winner of The Orange Prize and The David Higham Award, Linda Grant is the author of two works of non-fiction and two previous novels, The Cast Iron Shore and When I Lived in Modern Times. She was born in Liverpool.