August Blue

Hardback Published on: 04/05/2023
Price: £18.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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August Blue
A Feast For The Senses
I went from enjoying and appreciating Levy's novels to becoming slightly obsessed with her last year after reading her autobiographical trilogy, which were... READ MORE
Katy Wheatley
August Blue
elegiac
Deborah Levy is a dizzyingly good writer, and August Blue spoke to me in a way that I crave from all books, but rarely ever receive. The use of music, colo... READ MORE
Sophie Cook

Synopsis

'If she was my double and I was hers, was it true that she was knowing, I was unknowing, she was sane, I was crazy, she was wise, I was foolish? That summer, the air was electric between us as we transmitted our feelings to each other across three countries.'

Elsa M. Anderson is a classical piano virtuoso. In a flea market in Athens, she watches an enigmatic woman buy two mechanical dancing horses. Is it possible that the woman who is so enchanted with the horses is her living double? Is she also looking for reasons to live?

Chasing their doubles across Europe, the two women grapple with their preconceived conceptions of the world and each other, culminating in a final encounter in a fateful summer rainstorm.

A vivid portrait of a long-held identity coming apart, August Blue expands our understanding of the ways in which we seek to find ourselves in others and create ourselves anew.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
  • ISBN: 9780241421314
  • Number of pages: 256
  • Dimensions: 222 x 144 x 26 mm
  • Weight: 377g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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August Blue
“How to construct a self”..
Deborah Levy is one of the most creative writers of contemporary English literature. August Blue is an interesting, experimental novel about a young women’... READ MORE
Emine at Bromley
August Blue
European mystery
August Blue by Deborah Levy A gifted pianist, Elsa arrives in Athens, where she sees a mysterious women buying toy horses at a souvenir stall. Who is th... READ MORE
Jonathan  Kaye
August Blue
Fascinating exploration of breaking apart
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read August Blue by Deborah Levy in exchange for an honest independent review. Elsa Anderson is a concert... READ MORE
Kate Wilson
August Blue
Enigmatic Story
This short novel is set just after Covid when most people were still wearing masks, this adds to the air of mystery that permeates the book. A famous young... READ MORE
Jill Thomson
August Blue
A puzzle to ponder
I am a Levy fan, yet this is a bit of a puzzle. I think I can see what the story wants to discuss but the "landscape" of what happens didn't feel convincin... READ MORE
Clarisa Butler
August Blue
Amazing read
The best random train station purchase I have made. Original, gripping, easy to read, yet so skilful, such light touch to this ingenious style. The first b... READ MORE
Neil Redford
August Blue
odd but interesting
This was an odd book, thankfully quite short, playing with ideas of memory, family and being a child prodigy among others. At times I found the writing sty... READ MORE
jean
August Blue
Lyrical prose
I am, quite possibly, clear on only one thing about August Blue and that is that I shall have to read it again to thoroughly understand it. On the face of... READ MORE
Kateoshea
August Blue
A true delight, slightly surreal, totally original
August Blue by Deborah Levy is a true delight, slightly surreal, totally original. Whilst travelling in Athens, Elsa sees a lady in a market buying two n... READ MORE
Ciaran McLarnon
August Blue
Challenging, beguiling, and utterly Levy...
In many ways, the appeal of 'August Blue' is that its interpretation is left almost entirely to the reader. It also manages to be both absorbing and unsett... READ MORE
Caz Stevens
August Blue
Not a word out of place
I was sent a copy of August Blue by Deborah Levy to read and review by NetGalley. I love Deborah Levy’s writing. There is never a word out of place or a ... READ MORE
lesleys
August Blue
Beautifully written work of literary fiction
My thanks to Penguin Group U.K. Hamish Hamilton for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘August Blue’ by Deborah Levy. The protagonist of Levy’s latest work of liter... READ MORE
Vivienne O'Regan
August Blue
Recommend (not)
I want the time back, this is the most boring book I’ve ever read, it’s nonsensical ramblings of nothing, I bought this book because it was among the recom... READ MORE
Lynne