The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
‘If The Girl on the Train was the woman of 2015, then Sophie Stark is this year’s model. Anna North’s novel, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, has been a hit in America, with Lena Dunham describing its protagonist as a “totally unforgettable female antihero”. Out now – soon every girl on every train will be reading it’ Sunday Times
Who is the real Sophie Stark?
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is the story of an enigmatic film director, told by the six people who loved her most. Brilliant, infuriating, all-seeing and unknowable, Sophie Stark makes films said to be ‘more like life than life itself’. But her genius comes at a terrible cost: to her husband, to the brother she left behind, and to an actress who knows too much.
With shades of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, A Visit from the Goon Squad and Where’d You Go, Bernadette, it combines a uniquely appealing sensibility with a compulsively page-turning plot.
‘Thriller-paced, with mysteries revealed at every turn. The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark, a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations and suffers deeply for it‘ Lena Dunham
‘North is a natural, butter-smooth storyteller’ Maggie Shipstead, author of SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
‘I read THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story’ Emma Donoghue, author of ROME
‘Jennifer Egan, eat your heart out’ Sam Baker
‘A captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman. It’s a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy and meditates on the ethics involved in film-making and storytelling’ THE INDEPENDENT
‘Gripping and graceful’ THE GUARDIAN
‘The year’s must read’ GLAMOUR
Who is the real Sophie Stark?
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is the story of an enigmatic film director, told by the six people who loved her most. Brilliant, infuriating, all-seeing and unknowable, Sophie Stark makes films said to be ‘more like life than life itself’. But her genius comes at a terrible cost: to her husband, to the brother she left behind, and to an actress who knows too much.
With shades of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, A Visit from the Goon Squad and Where’d You Go, Bernadette, it combines a uniquely appealing sensibility with a compulsively page-turning plot.
‘Thriller-paced, with mysteries revealed at every turn. The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark, a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations and suffers deeply for it‘ Lena Dunham
‘North is a natural, butter-smooth storyteller’ Maggie Shipstead, author of SEATING ARRANGEMENTS
‘I read THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story’ Emma Donoghue, author of ROME
‘Jennifer Egan, eat your heart out’ Sam Baker
‘A captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman. It’s a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy and meditates on the ethics involved in film-making and storytelling’ THE INDEPENDENT
‘Gripping and graceful’ THE GUARDIAN
‘The year’s must read’ GLAMOUR
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
Lena Dunham is massively into this hotly tipped US novel and so am I... Part musing on fame and identity, part thriller, it's one of those books that pervades your thoughts long after the end
Sophie Stark is one of the most unusual books I've ever read. I was immediately hooked on brilliantly drawn characters and such a clever structure. I absolutely loved it and was so moved at the end I was left feeling kind of numb
Thriller-paced, with mysteries revealed at every turn. The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark, a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations and suffers deeply for it
Anna North has delivered a smart, sweet, sad and tender novel exploring the power of love and the nature of artistic vision and legacy.
Hotly tipped Brooklyn-based author and New York Times journalist Anna North has been making waves in the US with this book, with the likes of Lena Dunham among its fans. It's the story of idiosyncratic documentary filmmaker Sophie Stark, told at thriller-pace by six people who loved her most.
Anna North's The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is a captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman. It's a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy and meditates on the ethics involved in film-making and
storytelling...
I read THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth. Not only a dissection of genius and the havoc it can wreak, but also a thunderously good story.
Unfolds with pace and intrigue, creating a highly readable portrait of an artist through the eyes of those she loved, used, immortalised and damaged
Fierce, page-turning
Told by different narrators, The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is one of the big books of 2016
In alternating chapters of this involving novel, Sophie's brother, ex-lover, a crush and a film critic give their versions of the truth, and reveal the high cost of a living a life dedicated to art.
This hotly tipped U.S. debut is tremendously good... A beautifully-told novel about a singular woman and the slippery power of art to simultaneously reveal and obscure a multiplicity of stories.
The brilliant and infuriating Sophie Stark makes films said to be "more like life than life itself", but her genius comes at a terrible cost to her husband, to the brother she left behind, and to an actress who knows too much.THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK is the story of an enigmatic film director, told by the six people who loved her most.
For fans of A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD
THIS YEAR'S BLOCKBUSTER. If the Girl on the Train was the woman of 2015, then Sophie Stark is this year's model... Out now - soon every girl on every train will be reading it.
Bold and enthralling
MAKING AN ENTRANCE: STUNNING DEBUTS FROM THE LITERARY WORLD'S NEW POWER PLAYERS: 'Memories of a powerful woman told by the six people who loved her most'
This richly realised first novel gives us multiple perspectives on its elusive protagonist... Gripping and graceful
Do not miss Anna North's fascinating study of one woman told from different viewpoints in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK.
The year's must read.
It's a completely compelling read that asks whether broken hearts and ruined relationships are prices worth paying in the name of creativity.
Provocative . . . North's prose is as skilful as her protagonist's shot list
Told from the perspective of six people whose lives were irrevocably shaped by Sophie Stark, the second novel from New York Times journalist Anna North is both a complex examination of the price of genius and an unputdownable page-turner. Jennifer Egan, look out. You have competition.
Anna North is a natural, butter-smooth storyteller, and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark is an elegant, kaleidoscopic look at a challenging artist and at the way our lives are, in some respects, only silhouettes made from the perceptions of those who know us.
The world is crackling with electric praise for Anna North's new novel
Jennifer Egan, eat your heart out
Sophie Stark is a cleverly assembled work that examines the maniacal devotion it takes to create art. It's also a fun dive into the world of movie-making, and a character study that will move you to tears.