At Cambridge, in the summer of 1992, Australian student Helen is completing her thesis on Joseph Conrad. But she is distracted by a charming and dangerous lover, Justin, and by a ghost manuscript, her anti-thesis, which she has left on a train.
Haunted by this loss and others, by Justin’s destructive tendencies and by details of Conrad’s life, Helen is unmoored. And then the drama of the lost manuscript sets in motion a series of events—with possibly fatal consequences.
Gail Jones’s masterly new novel traverses the borders between art and life, between life and death, in a journey through literary history and emotional landscapes. Elegantly written, deftly crafted, One Another covers new territories of grief, memory and narrative.
INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS
ArtsHub
Conversation
Guardian
andOne Another
‘Carefully crafted prose that will delight and assure you of an expert at work…Jones has delved into literary history again and pieced the real and the imaginary into an artful new construction…Highly recommended for those interested in literature, history or biographies.’
‘Gail Jones has to be one of Australia’s most consistently impressive writers. Her prose is evocative, her plots meaningful and her characters drawn with considerable care.’
‘For decades, Gail Jones has been writing with more intelligence, verve and sensuous delight in the world than most of her peers.’
‘In her exquisite ninth novel, Gail Jones demonstrates, once again, why she is widely regarded as one of Australia’s finest novelists working today.’
‘As in all Jones’s work, the lyricism and precision of the writing rewards patient reading. This is her most beautifully paced novel…Eloquent and profound.’
‘To read a Gail Jones novel is to become absorbed in narrative patterns of looping time, often cinematic imagery, and interrelated literary allusions…A richly evocative novel…that adds to our understanding of the processes of writing and reading the lives of others.’
‘Reading and writing—two great acts of literary citizenship—are at the heart of this novel.’
‘Layer upon layer, Gail Jones has skilfully woven multiple narratives into a tightly held novel that will undo the reader with its poignancy…Of course, you will love this novel if you enjoyed Anna Funder’s Wifedom, or Richard Flanagan’s Question 7; all these authors show us the links and the losses…Gail Jones is one of Australia’s finest authors and I know her stories grant compassion and grace our collective imagination.’
‘5 stars. [Jones’] latest novel is a shining example of her consummate skills.’
‘A complex and delicately written story about displacement, loss and the power of the imagination….Written in the most beautiful, lucid prose.’
