SPLITTING THE ATOM
"CHUNKY, AMBITIOUS AND HUGELY ENJOYABLE."
NICK HORNBY, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
NICK HORNBY, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
About Splitting the Atom
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Things could never be the same again after Eddie and Matthew Merriweather's twenty-second birthday. Eddie is dead and Matthew has to come to terms with a new existence without his complex and dangerous twin. The accident knocks Walter, their father, our of kilter too, as his sudden self-awareness exposes cracks in the edifice of security in which he has tried to shelter himself and his family.
Matthew and Walter undertake separate journeys in their search to fill the emptiness that Eddie's death brings, while Helen and Beth, Eddie's mother and girlfriend, can only cope by retreating into the familiarity of their once secure surroundings. Matthew ricochets between his rebellious friends and a love affair with a sad, beautiful refugee. Walter is forced to confront the fact that his apparently successful career has been build on a giant lie. Out of this confusion a new understanding gradually emerges. But it's not until Walter holes up in his father-in-law's house in Greece and finds the courage to put his thoughts on tape that all can be, at last laid to rest. A thoughtful and moving study of father-and-son relationships, Splitting the Atom is Stephen Amidon's first novel, a debut of truly outstanding clarity and vision. |
Praise for Splitting the Atom
"An ambitions, unusual and always interesting novel…convincing and moving…wildly funny and touching…there is no doubt about Amidon’s ability. He is what publishers love most: one to watch.” Margaret Forster, Sunday Times
"Excellent...dense and satisfying...a sharp and entertaining novel." Paul Kincaid, TLS
"An able writer, full of potential and promise" Bernard O'Keefe, Oxford Times.
"Splitting the Atom doesn't pluck gently at the heartstrings, it takes a baseball bat to the back of your head." i-D
"Striking, often brilliant episodes." Wendy Brandmark, Observer
"Hugely ambitious...will probably win a prize." Andrew Billen, Literary Review
"Brilliant and disturbing exploration of a father-son relationship." Joanna Briscoe, Elle.
"Excellent...dense and satisfying...a sharp and entertaining novel." Paul Kincaid, TLS
"An able writer, full of potential and promise" Bernard O'Keefe, Oxford Times.
"Splitting the Atom doesn't pluck gently at the heartstrings, it takes a baseball bat to the back of your head." i-D
"Striking, often brilliant episodes." Wendy Brandmark, Observer
"Hugely ambitious...will probably win a prize." Andrew Billen, Literary Review
"Brilliant and disturbing exploration of a father-son relationship." Joanna Briscoe, Elle.
buy Splitting the Atom
