A Book for All and None

One crisp, clear day, across a cobbled Oxford street, Raymond Greatorex catches sight of Beatrice Kopus. Raymond, a brilliant but ageing don whose specialty is Nietzsche, has withdrawn into a lonely world of scholarship. Beatrice is in Oxford researching Virginia Woolf, and distancing herself from her husband, Walter. When Beatrice reappears in Raymond's life, they embark on a love affair. Beatrice becomes convinced of a link between Friedrich Nietzsche, Louise von Salome - the young Russian emigre who bewitched him - and Virginia Woolf. As Walter faces ruin in his glittering career, Beatrice and Raymond seek refuge in the past. Stories of Nietzsche's madness and his obsession with von Salome become intertwined with those of Raymond's ancestors, and their beautiful, crumbling home on the Welsh borders. But there are even greater mysteries linking the past to the present, and in their quest to find one set of answers, Beatrice and Raymond stand to uncover a secret that will profoundly change their understanding of who they really are.

ISBN 0297863738   Pages 368 ISBN13 9780297863731 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 614 Publisher Orion Publishing Co   Published in London Imprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson   Height (mm) 234 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 153 Publication date 02 Jun 2011   Spine width (mm) 31 DEWEY 823.92   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

'a wonderfully constructed edifice; ideas, possibilities, emotions, dreams bounce and echo from one to another, creating a subtle meditation on the limitations of and the potential for love and transcendence' -- Tim Pears Author of Landed and In the Place of Fallen Leaves 'Complex, thought-provoking, multi-faceted - an extraordinary achievement' -- Francesca Kay Author of An Equal Stillness 'A formidable debut' -- Suzi Feay INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'A Book for All and None [is] a work grand enough in its ambition to house not only a trio of modern characters but also characterizations of Nietzsche, Salome, their mutual friend, Paul Ree; and occupying a room not quite of her own, Virginia Woolf...Morgan seems determined to show just what, in her first novel, she can carry off...she masters her disparate materials impressively...[the] novel unfolds like a work of paper-sharp origami to reveal its incredible secret.' TLS 'This intensely academic novel is stuffed to bursting with good things... Past and present are very neatly plaited together' THE TIMES 'Morgan manages that symphonic trick of weaving her parallel narratives into a spell-binding, effortlessly propulsive unity' THE INDEPENDENT 'Morgan's novel echoes AS Byatt's 'Possession' but has a contemporary edge all its own' TIME OUT 'This debut novel of love, madness and creativity is written with eloquence and artistry.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Woven into this ambitious brainteaser of a novel is the beginning of Nietzche's intense, obsessive relationship with Lou von Salome in 1882, Woolf's Pembrokeshire sojourn of 1908, and the origins of her first book, The Voyage Out... it is unashamedly intellectual and sensually written.' THE GUARDIAN 'Reflecting its modernist influences, A Book for All and None is a novel of ideas and aesthetics, exquisite in its descriptive passages, but driven by a tension between the cerebral and more fundamental emotional needs.' -- Jonathan Ruppin WE LOVE THIS BOOK 'A beautifully written debut novel from Monmouthshire-born Clare Morgan, A Book for All and None brings Virginia Woolf and Freidrich Nietzsche to life in a modern love affair set partly in Pembrokeshire and the Welsh borders.' -- Steve Dube WESTERN MAIL (Cardiff)

It is really difficult to put this book down once one has reached the bottom of the first page! I have neglected many a daily chore and irritated quite a few people by my leave of absence into this other, gripping world! Great richness of characters and incident many heart-stopping moments, fine emotional and sensual writing. Beautiful, distinctive language. Accomplished interweaving of past and present characters and stories, all vivid and 'real' a fascinating mixture of topicality and history. Strong, helpful use of Leitmotif where each character has his/her own language which easily identifies him or her to the reader. I enjoyed the charming echoes of Russian literary tradition in Raymond's Plas y Coed family saga. A great novel that should not be missed by anyone who appreciates good literature. - Peter Perugia



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