Beatrice and Virgil - Tapa dura

Every page offers something of tension, humanity, surprise, or even ecstasy * * The Times on Life of Pi * * Ultimately uplifting * * Daily Mail on Life of Pi * * A terrific book ... fresh, original, smart, devious, and crammed with absorbing lore -- Margaret Atwood * * Sunday Times on Life of Pi * * A hilarious novel, full of clever tricks, amusing asides and grand originality * * Daily Telegraph on Life of Pi * * This enormously lovable novel is suffused with wonder . . . this is fiction probing the imaginative realm with scientific exactitude, twisting reality to "bring out its essence" * * Guardian on Life of Pi * * Audaciously original, never less than engrossing, often disturbing, and in its denouement truly horrifying. -- Mick Brown * * The Telegraph Magazine * * A slim but potent exploration of the nature of survival in the face of evil. -- Nina Sankovitch * * The Huffington Post * * As an elliptical fable, [Beatrice and Virgil] is a model of clarity and dread. -- Rosemary Goring * * The Herald, Arts Supplement * * Somewhere between Beckett and Ionesco...with its textures of genre and allegory, there also comes an explosion of ideas that keep the pages turning...a wild, provocative novel. -- Joy Lo Dico * * The Independent on Sunday * * [Beatrice and Virgil] is elaborately structured, with narratives tucked into other narratives and, in terms of themes, more layers than an Italian wedding cake. -- David Robson * * Sunday Telegraph, Seven * * Quirky. * * Vogue * * We're gripped... -- Stephen Doig * * Harper's Bazaar * * A masterpiece, no question. -- A N Wilson * * Readers Digest * * A daringly original work. * * Psychologies * * Never less than powerful and affecting . . . Martel is incapable of writing a dull sentence. * * Dail Express * * Beatrice and Virgil are deeply affecting creations. * * Time Out * * Fascinating. * * Literary Review * * Strong stuff. * * Hot Press * * Beatrice and Vigil is an outstanding intellectual achievement. * * The List * * An unsettling exploration of the power and difficulty and dangers of storytelling. * * Waterstone's Books Quarterly * *

Fate takes many forms . . . When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulling into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey - named Beatrice and Virgil - and the epic journey they undertake together. With all the spirit and orginality that made Life of Pi so treasured, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way, Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.