The Emperor Waltz

(Paperback)

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Description

The most ambitious and daring novel novel yet from Booker Prize-shortlisted Philip Hensher.

A novel that's almost fizzy to the touch A performance of extraordinary flair and majesty from a writer who seems capable of anything Guardian
The Emperor Waltz is a single novel with three narrative strands: fourth-century Rome, 1920s Germany, and 1980s London. In each place, a small coterie is closely connected and separated from the larger world. In each story, the larger world regards the small coterie and its passionately-held beliefs and secrets with suspicion and hostility.

It is the story of eccentricity, its struggle, its triumph, its influence but also its defeat.

Reviews

A novel that is always a joy to read Read it and allow yourself to become a better person Independent

Important Glorious He might have the iconoclastic temperament of a Kandinsky, but he is an old master when he glimpses the cat asleep under the table or the curve of a womans neck The Times

A glittering performance The Emperor Waltz has the depth and pleasurable density of a 19th-century fiction; I loved it Ian Thomson, Evening Standard

Splendidly thought out and extraordinarily readable A S Byatt, Guardian

'A generous, courageous firework of a novel a Roman candle, alive and fizzing in the hand' New Statesman

A book as joyful as its musical source The Emperor Waltz is a beautiful book, both profound and funny. It is a powerful invocation to live a life of joy, surrounded by true friends Telegraph

Author Bio

Philip Hensher is a columnist for the Independent, arts critic for the Spectator and a Granta Best of Young British novelist. He has written six novels, including The Mulberry Empire and the Booker-shortlisted The Northern Clemency, and one collection of short stories. He lives in South London.