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Sadie Jones
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Fallout: A Novel (P.S. (Paperback)) Kindle Edition

by Sadie Jones (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 611 ratings
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"Doris Lessing is the Cassandra of the documentary novel...crying for something harshly denied to our age: a longing for magic, for the irrational. Her concern for life, her independence of judgment and her gift for diagnosing our hydra-headed social ills is extraordinary." — The ObserverIn the aftermath of World War II, Martha Quest finds herself completely disillusioned. She is losing faith with the communist movement in Africa, and her marriage to one of the movement's leaders is disintegrating. Determined to resist the erosion of her personality, she engages in the first satisfactory love affair and breaks free, if only momentarily, from her suffocating unhappiness.Landlocked is the fourth novel of Doris Lessing's classic Children of Violence sequence of novels, each a masterpiece in its own right, and collectively an incisive, all encompassing vision of our world in the twentieth century.
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  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper
  4. Publication date
    April 29, 2014
  5. File size
    3.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This intoxicating, deeply romantic novel of theater, love, and friendship is set in London during the 1970s. Luke Kanowski is desperate to escape his provincial hometown and the specter of his mentally ill mother, locked away in an asylum, and his depressed father, who numbs himself with drink. When Luke moves to London and falls in with aspiring producer Paul Driscoll and Paul’s girlfriend, Leigh Radley, he finally feels that he has found a home for himself, both personally and artistically. The three form a repertory company, madly building sets, holding casting calls, and searching for the best scripts. And although Luke is loath to show anyone his work, he spends hours locked in his room, pouring his experiences onto paper. When he finally emerges with a script that becomes a hugely successful play, he finds that artistic triumph is more complicated than he could ever have imagined, especially when his married lover, fragile actress Nina Jacobs, becomes obsessed with landing a part in the play, despite the fact that she is wrong for the part. With both microscopic precision and operatic emotions, Jones, in her fourth novel (after The Uninvited Guests, 2012), perfectly captures the exhilaration of the young and the talented as they find their footing in both art and love. --Joanne Wilkinson

Review

Jones' writing is poetic and her detailed prose brings the world of 1970s London to life in all its beauty and decadence...Full of love, heartbreak, and the moments that have the power to shape an entire life.

-- "RT Book Reviews (4 stars)"

An engrossing melodrama of theater life...[An] absorbing plot, which convincingly shows how friends can be torn apart by lust and ambition.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

An intoxicating, deeply romantic novel of theater, love, and friendship...With both microscopic precision and operatic emotions, Sadie Jones perfectly captures the exhilaration of the young and the talented as they find their footing in both art and love.

-- "Booklist (starred review)"

Jones's intricate, complex plot, sympathetically drawn characters, and authentic depictions of damaged genius make an unassailable claim for the power of a writer's detailed observation in the face of formula fiction.

-- "Library Journal"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FJ37EBG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; Reprint edition (April 29, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 29, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.9 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 611 ratings

About the author

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Sadie Jones

Sadie Jones

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Sadie Jones is a novelist and screenwriter who was born and brought up in London. Her first novel, The Outcast ('Riveting', Lionel Shriver; 'Devastatingly good', Daily Mail) was the winner of the Costa First Novel Award. It was also shortlisted for the Orange Prize and was a Richard and Judy Summer Reads Number One bestseller.

Her second novel, Small Wars, ('Outstanding', The Times; 'One of the best books about the English at war ever', Joel Morris), was longlisted for the Orange Prize.

Her third, published in 2010, was The Uninvited Guests. (“...at once a shimmering comedy of manners and disturbing commentary on class... a brilliant novel.” Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder. ‘Delightful, eerie novel ... puts one in mind of Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black ...’ The Daily Telegraph.)

Her most recent is Fallout, which will be published in May 2014. Sadie is married to the architect, Tim Boyd, and they live in West London with their two children.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
611 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Anon
    5.0 out of 5 stars "Anna Karenina" set in the West End
    Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2014
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    What is the fallout from choosing the wrong person to love in life?

    Jones' "Fallout" is a riff on "Anna Karenina" set in the London theatre scene in the 1960s.

    Brilliant, essentially good people ruin each other's lives by loving the wrong person while they navigate the West End. This is the first book I've read that captures the sheer terror of putting on a new work for an audience. One of my favorite books of 2014.
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  • Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars "The fallout that had warped his heart."
    Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2014
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    This novel is about the failure of mother love. In the end, the point of the intersecting love triangles had not been raised in human love. Luke's mother is insane and lives in an asylum. All his best efforts cannot save her, and as an adult, he misses the connection to women as one he can successfully maintain. The charismatic Luke is drawn to Nina, abandoned to an aunt until old enough to server as the focus of her stage mother. The constellation of missed opportunities and the love that Luke is meant to find, is complex. All in all it is a witty book with some pithy and apt observatons on life and love. Many of the scenes are exceptional in their ability to touch on the realities and pains of love.

    My primary problem is the central assumption that these characters can be fatally wounded from childhood. It has some patent truth, but these characters are too complex for this simple poison to shape all of a lifetime. Luke's other love interest Leigh is of a solid background and she recognizes the stain , "the fallout" of Luke's core. As beguinling as it is, the premise is just too simple to account for all the damage that these intelligent and thoughtful people wreck on each other and the world.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Trevor Johnson
    3.0 out of 5 stars An author must help the reader to draw conclusions
    Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2014
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    The first part of 'Fallout' is confusing - too many quick changes of points of view, without any explanation of background. The bulk of the story, set in 1972 London, is an easy, interesting read about people trying to do something different in the world of theater. The problem is that the reasons for certain things happening was far from clear e.g. why did the various relationships come together and break apart? Yes, the author should leave much to the reader's imagination, but the author must create the atmosphere to allow the imagination to work - I don't think Sadie Jones did this. The end is very predictable.
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  • Madeline C Beaumont
    5.0 out of 5 stars I loved the characters symmetry
    Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2014
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    Glorious writing. This novel is set in my era, the 60s, and in England. It has English humor and agony. I loved the characters symmetry.
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars It me the standard that I associate with Sadie Jones ...
    Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2015
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    It me the standard that I associate with Sadie Jones for handling complexity in human relations with real insight and delicacy.
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  • Catherine F Hanrahan
    5.0 out of 5 stars Its the impetus that Luke needs to escape his dull life in an office job and run away to ...
    Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2014
    Fallout is the story of four young people trying to make it in the world of experimental theatre in 1970s London. In a chance meeting in his Lincolnshire village, Luke Kanowski meets the fiery Leigh Radley and Paul Driscoll on their way to meet a playwright. Its the impetus that Luke needs to escape his dull life in an office job and run away to London and immerse himself in the theatre world. He's leaving behind a mother who has been in an asylum nearly all his life, and a father who is slowly drinking himself to death. Luke and Paul set up their own theatre company called Graft, while Luke secretly writes plays at night and Leigh works as a stage manager to pay the bills.

    Luke and Paul are strongly attracted to Leigh, but its Paul she chooses when Luke rebuffs her.

    Running parallel is the story of Nina Jacobs, a budding actress whose life will intersect with the other three in a dramatic way. She's grown up with a mother who is a monster - a fading narcissistic actress who is now pinning her hopes on her daughter. A critical step is marrying her off to the successful and influential but cruel Tony Moore.

    When Luke's first play is critically acclaimed, its seems natural that Paul and his new theatre company will produce his second offering. But Luke has become entangled with Nina and the liaison will have huge ramifications for all of them.

    There are so many things to love about this book. The characterisation is brilliant. Luke, Nina, Leigh and Paul are all convincingly portrayed and always consistent. Luke is emotionally stunted as a result of his neglected upbringing and the way he clings to Paul and Leigh in the flat they share as his replacement family is touching and believable. He beds lots of women but is unable to have a fulfilling relationship and the reader's sympathy is with him all the way.

    I read an interview with Sadie Jones talking about the character of Nina and how she created in Nina the kind of woman she really hates. But I felt sorry for Nina because her mother was so dreadful and even at her worst, I could not help but see what a tortured soul she is.

    The period is brilliantly evoked, from the walks through dark streets during the power cuts, to the fears that the bomb has been dropped, the grimness of 1970s London is painted very subtly. Jones does well to drop in these details without straining, which I find a problem in some historical fiction. You can almost smell the beer wafting up the stairs of the pub theatre.

    And there's some outstanding writing - Luke seducing the au pair at a party, 'and his thoughts were reduced gratefully to the heated maths of getting inside her clothes, taking up all of him in blessed focus' and overcome with desire 'burning and aching within and without from her imprint'.

    The plot is not complex but evolves from the distinct failings of the characters and their obsessions. The climax and ending are really satisfying for this reason.

    And that reminds me of an article I read recently on writing tips from Booker Prize winners. The one that stayed in my mind was from Arundhati Roy, the winner in 1997 for The God of Small Things.

    She said “…the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets....They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen...You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t."

    This is the best book I've read this year and I've already added Sadie Jones' other books to my birthday wish list.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • london girl
    1.0 out of 5 stars a really boring book with thinly drawn characters
    Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2015
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    Poorly written, badly edited; a really boring book with thinly drawn characters, an uninteresting and slow-moving plot, clunky dialogue. I couldn't have cared less about any of the characters, so I left it half read and unfinished. It didn't help that I had just read Elena Ferrante's neapolitan trilogy which is stunning, so anything was going to pale in comparison.
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  • Susan Biggs
    2.0 out of 5 stars It was recommended by a colleague so I'd expected an intelligent read ...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
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    Disappointing. It was recommended by a colleague so I'd expected an intelligent read but what I got was voyeuristic and predictable. If you managed to get through Fifty Shades (I didn't), you'll like this book. It's an easy read and holds attention.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • alte, aber bessere Farbwiedergaben als heute oft
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eine Autorin mit hoher Fähigkeit
    Reviewed in Germany on May 5, 2017
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    Ich habe jetzt alle 4 Bücher von ihr gelesen: Alle völlig andere Themen und andere "Surroundings" der Handlungen. Aber alle sehr fesselnd, sehr sensibel in der Beschreibung der Figuren und mit hoher Kenntnis der so unterschiedlichen Welten, in denen sie spielen.
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  • helen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2014
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    I've been a great fan of Sadie Jones since reading The Outcast. I loved her next book too. But I was disappointed with her 3rd. However I still bought Fallout, and I certainly wasn't disappointed this time. In fact I think it's her best one yet. It's a beautiful, intimate novel that kept me turning the pages, hungry for the story, while being entranced by the exquisite language. The characters are real and flawed, and they all had my complete empathy.
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  • Rhona
    4.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2014
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    It is beautifully written but where this often suggests it's difficult to read - it is not.

    The story, set principally in a theatrical context, is enthralling and the characters diverse, interesting, intriguing. I am not sure why I've held back the fifth star but it could be because there is a slight emptiness at the heart of some of the characters but then again could this be the brittleness of the 'luvvies'? Don't let it put you off : it's a great read.
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  • Marguerite
    3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't fall quite so much in love with this as I'd hoped
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2014
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    I really enjoyed 'The Outcasts', and the subject matter and setting of 'Fallout' really appealed to me, so I was set to like it. And I did - but not nearly as much as I'd hoped.

    'Fallout' is a story of Seventies theatre and a time when 'the arts' in England, and in London in particular, took one of those 'Brits leading the world' sort of turns. Theatre became more leading edge and political. Of course there were still revues and musicals, but there were exciting new theatres, new producers, new writers coming to the fore, on the back of the 'new wave' of the Sixties kitchen sink films and film-makers. 'Fallout' is not wholly about theatre, but there is a LOT of theatre in it. Sadie Jones has obviously done a huge amount of research and has a love of her subject. The problem is, that the research, the theatres and the politics and the insider jokes get far too much prominence in this novel, and that's what spoiled it for me.

    Luke and Paul were great characters. They were great foils for each other, and their friendship was deep and utterly believable - so that when it went wrong, as it inevitably did, then you really felt for them. Nina, the cataclysmic catalyst, was a horror, but she was also a believable horror, and her marriage, which I'm pretty certain was a pastiche of a famous and real one, was wittily and bitterly drawn. She was meant to be hateful, and she was, though she was also pathetic. My problem was that I didn't hate her so much as didn't care what happened to her, and that meant I didn't much care for what happened with her relationship with Luke. I have this problem quite a lot with novels these days, so much that I wonder if it's just me - I don't dislike dislikeable characters, I feel indifferent to them, and it stops me wanting to find out what happened.

    However, Sadie Jones writes a good story, and she writes really beautiful prose in places, so I did carry on, and ultimately I'm glad I did. The ending is satisfying. When the curtain comes down, I was glad I didn't leave in the interval. I just wish the third act had been cut a bit. But I will be reading her next one.
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  • Sue Ryan
    4.0 out of 5 stars Do I give it three or four stars? Or, even only two?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2014
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    I have just finished reading 'Fallout' by Sadie Jones and I don't think I have enjoyed it as much as her previous three novels. Jones always writes about damaged characters and dysfunctional relationships and seeing them 'opened out' on the page can be painful and/or confusing for the reader and being able to see and understand why the characters are so flawed does not necessarily make them anymore likable. This is a book about four young people who aspire to work 'in the theatre'. The main two are, Luke, who wants to write plays, grows up in Northern England with a mother in a mental hospital and a father who has opted out of life, not just parenting; and Nina, the only child to a mostly absent mother who kids herself and Nina that she is a actress of some note. It is inevitable that Nina gets sent to acting school. Luke, meets Paul and Leigh when they stop their car to ask directions. Paul describes himself as a producer and Leigh as his assistant. They like Luke's naivety and openness about his life and spend a little time with him. When Luke decides to move to London, he arrives on Paul's doorstep and all four lives become more and more intertwined. Luke and Nina move into the spotlight, while Paul and Leigh appear to become supporting characters.

    It is Luke's honesty 'of self' that attracts Paul and Nina and this is referred to several times. For Nina, who has lived with her mother's self-deception and manipulations all her life, this is both fascinating and frightening. Luke, who has wanted to 'feel love' has tried to find the emotion in many physical relationships but does not yet have the skill to recognise it. It is inevitable that these two characters both emotionally feed and feed-on each other. Luke's lack of guile is equally attractive to Paul and Leigh and their feelings for him come the nearest, I think, to what Luke is seeking. They love him and accept him and it is this love, I believe, that makes them appear passive in their roles in the book. Tony, Nina's husband, presents as a self-serving, rather sadistic misogynist who uses passive-aggression to manipulate and control Nina.

    Laying over all this, like a blanket, is the stereotypical gender roles of the times and Jones points this out clearly when she has Leigh 'make a scene' outside the theatre where Tony's production is showing.

    I did not enjoy reading this book and found it hard work to stay with it but I could not have stopped reading either. I felt all manner of emotions for the characters but never liked them. I kept expecting that moment when I would realise that I cared about the people I was reading about and it didn't really happen. I experienced a sort of 'softening' in the last two or three pages and now I look back and think, "I am glad I read it." and only now do I realise what an excellent and expressive title Sadie Jones chose for her clever book. So, how many stars do I give....?
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