Giveaway: Astray by Emma Donoghue

    

    Picador have kindly sent me a copy of the paperback edition of Astray by Emma Donoghue, which will be out later this month and which I read in hardback earlier in the year, and so I thought I'd put it up for grabs. It's a sequence of stories or 'fact-inspired fictions' on the themes of wanderings, deviations and going astray. The epigraph is from Virgil's Aeneid:

    "Tell us underneath what skies, / Upon what coasts of earth we have been cast; / We wander, ignorant of men and places, / And driven by the wind and the vast waves";

    its sections are entitled 'Departures', 'In Transit', and 'Arrivals and Aftermaths', and within them each piece is inspired by an actual historical account - but often no more than a brief mention in a letter or newspaper report - of a journey, or some form of displacement. From this seed or source material Emma Donoghue has created a series of perfect vignettes, capturing or imagining a unique and appropriate voice for each, 'assuming' a style to suit her subject matter*.

    The book begins with the story of Jumbo the famous elephant at London Zoo who was sold to Barnum's Circus in 1882 (this despite huge public outcry), and moves on through other emigrants, runaways, settlers and travellers, taking in all types of people and the transgressive or transformative situations in which they find themselves. It's inventive and intuitive, vivid and sharp of focus, and I hope whoever wins it will enjoy it very much.

    To enter the draw, then, please leave a comment on this post naming a favourite book - fiction or non-fiction - about travelling in one way or another, or which involves a journey of some kind; it can be anything at all as long as it appealed to you. The competition is open to everyone, so please put your name in the hat.

 

(*See this brief extract from the book's Afterword.)

Comments

[Rosie H]

For me it has to be The Lord of the Rings. I have never read a quest story that's been quite as good.

[Rhonda]

Time and again Jack Finney.

[Chris]

11.2263 Stephen King, time travel, brilliant read.

[craftygreenpoet]

There are probably a lot though one of my favourites is Peter Matthiessen's Snow leopard! Wonderful story of travelling in search of the elusive big cat.

[Pam - Travellin' Penguin]

I loved the travel books by Alice Steinbach who has sadly passed away. Without Reservations was his first and best one. Lovely book giveaway.

[Pam - Travellin' Penguin]

Ooops that should say "Her" not "his"

[Marte]

Tolkien - Lord of the rings
Elizabeth von Arnim - The enchanted April
Willis - Doomsday book

[Tracey]

When Nights were Cold by Susanna Jones.. great story.

[Geraldine]

Tschiffely's Ride by A.S.Tschiffely which he wrote about his epic ride in 1925 from Buenos Aire to New York. He rode with two horses Mancha and Gato. I read it in the 60s and have never forgotten it.

[Barbara MacLeod]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig or his other one called Lila.

[Alison P]

Kindred by Octavia E Butler. I am not a fan of science fiction but was persuaded to read this book by a friend and loved it. It's the story of a modern black American woman who is transported back to the antebellum South. A great book.

[Ruthiella]

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

Please put my name in the hat. But I hope Pam wins...because she is a Travellin' Penguin. It seems appropriate :)

[Jade]

My love of the Greek islands was inspired by both The Magus and My Family And Other Animals. Those books are so disimilar yet both of them capture the magic of the sea and the sun and the cypress trees...

Please put my name in the hat. This book sounds just up my street, especially as it can be read in small bites...

[Mystica Varathapalan]

Without Reservations Alice Steinbach - travel, the soul and independent women! gorgeous reads

[Miriana]

I would say Americanah, the latest book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, that tells the story of two Nigerians travelling to and settling in the US and the UK, to go back home afterwards.

[Cornflower]

I am so sorry to hear about Alice Steinbach, Pam. I've read two of her books (Without Reservations and Educating Alice) and enjoyed them very much.

[Ann P]

Ann Bridge - Illyrian Spring

[Nicky]

The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning has some memorable journeys and a general feeling of being adrift from home.

[Miriana]

True! I loved that book and also The Levant Trilogy.

[Carole]

I never managed The Lord of the Rings, but I loved The Hobbit, so I hope that counts.