Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies
Synopsis
Winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize
Shortlisted: Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year – Goldsmiths Prize – Betty Trask Prize
Longlisted: Booker Prize – Dylan Thomas Prize
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is a story of coming-of-age at the end of a life. Utterly heart-breaking yet darkly funny, Maddie Mortimer’s debut is a symphonic journey through one woman’s body: a celebration of desire, forgiveness, and the darkness within us all.
‘Original, memorable, shimmering’ – Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall
Lia has only one child, Iris; her magical, awkward, endlessly creative daughter who has just entered the battleground of her teenage years. Lia and Iris have always been close, but there is a war playing out inside Lia’s body, too, and everything is about to change.
As she confronts what might be the end, memories of her own childhood and a passionate love affair come rushing into her present, unearthing buried secrets and her family’s deepest fears. But Lia still has hope . . . for more time, for more love, for more Iris.
The Sunday Times Book of the Year
'Restlessly inventive . . . delicate and persuasive' – The Guardian
‘Extraordinary, kaleidoscopic’ – Daisy Johnson, author of Everything, Under
Details
Reviews
“Here is a book to dance and sing about. An extraordinary, kaleidoscopic dive into language”Daisy Johnson, Man Booker-shortlisted author of Everything, Under
“An original and memorable novel written in shimmering prose. The characters stayed with me long after I’d finished reading”Sarah Moss, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Ghost Wall and Summerwater
“Both expansive and intimate, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies is an intricate portrait of a life hurtling towards the inevitable. An extraordinary debut.”Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies
“A beautiful novel about death that feels completely alive, pulsing with tenderness and wit”Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start From and The Harpy
