An Unremarkable Body
Costa First Novel Award, 2018
***Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2018***
EVERY MOTHER IS A WOMAN WITH A PAST
‘An intriguing tale of love and loss . . . written with verve and delivers an amazing twist’ Sunday Mirror
‘A haunting debut about grief, loss and motherhood’ The Pool
‘This novel pulls you in and will have you racing to reach the end’ Good Housekeeping
When Katharine is found dead at the foot of her stairs, it is the mystery of her life that consumes her daughter, Laura. The medical examiner’s report, in which precious parts of Katharine’s body are weighed and categorised, motivates Laura to write her own version of events. But as she delves deeper into Katharine’s past, she is forced to confront a new version of the woman she knew only as her mother. A woman silenced by her own mother and wronged by her husband. A woman who lived in the shadows but whose secrets are now coming to light.
*** Includes an extract from Elisa Lodato’s second novel The Necessary Marriage.***
‘An incredibly moving story of maternal love, sacrifice, and how little we know those closest to us’ Chloë Mayer, author of The Boy Made of Snow
‘Extraordinarily sensuous storytelling that makes the reader’s heart ache in sympathy’ Observer
‘Spare, confident and affecting. A compelling read’ Joanna Barnard, author of Precocious
EVERY MOTHER IS A WOMAN WITH A PAST
‘An intriguing tale of love and loss . . . written with verve and delivers an amazing twist’ Sunday Mirror
‘A haunting debut about grief, loss and motherhood’ The Pool
‘This novel pulls you in and will have you racing to reach the end’ Good Housekeeping
When Katharine is found dead at the foot of her stairs, it is the mystery of her life that consumes her daughter, Laura. The medical examiner’s report, in which precious parts of Katharine’s body are weighed and categorised, motivates Laura to write her own version of events. But as she delves deeper into Katharine’s past, she is forced to confront a new version of the woman she knew only as her mother. A woman silenced by her own mother and wronged by her husband. A woman who lived in the shadows but whose secrets are now coming to light.
*** Includes an extract from Elisa Lodato’s second novel The Necessary Marriage.***
‘An incredibly moving story of maternal love, sacrifice, and how little we know those closest to us’ Chloë Mayer, author of The Boy Made of Snow
‘Extraordinarily sensuous storytelling that makes the reader’s heart ache in sympathy’ Observer
‘Spare, confident and affecting. A compelling read’ Joanna Barnard, author of Precocious
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Reviews
An Unremarkable Body is infused with sadness but avoids being morbid or cloying. It is written with verve, pace and sensitivity. A fabulous debut that also delivers an amazing twist as a final flourish
Lodato's skill is that of Katharine's pathologist; precise, delicate and thorough. A tender dissection of brutal truths
An incredibly moving story of maternal love, sacrifice, and how little we know about those closest to us. This beautifully-written novel had me gripped until the last page
A haunting debut about grief, loss and motherhood - and a woman's identity beyond that role
An Unremarkable Body is a well-crafted story of grief and loss. Beautiful, sensitive, and poignant
This novel pulls you in and will have you racing to reach the end
Extraordinarily sensuous storytelling that makes the reader's heart ache in sympathy
An uplifting story
Tender and moving, this part-thriller, part-memoir will leave you floored
An elegant, haunting book with a flawed narrator, troubled relationships, and a mystery at the heart . . . Lodato's writing is spare, confident and affecting. A compelling read
A sensitive examination of a life frustrated by mores and circumstance
AN UNREMARKABLE BODY is clever, evocative and sensitively written. There's so much to love about this book. These characters will creep into your thoughts
An intriguing tale of love, loss and missed opportunities . . . although infused with sadness, it is written with verve and delivers an amazing twist
Pleasingly distinct . . . the structuring of the chapters by means of an introductory extract from the autopsy report is a rather ingenious one . . . . this organizational quirkiness sets Lodato's work apart from the start . . . a novel that shows notable promise . . . . I'm already intrigued to see what Lodato writes next
A beautifully told tale of love and loss, which ever so gently reaffirms that no life is indeed unremarkable . . . Lodato probes the secrets that are scattered through one character's life and draws us into her world . . . absorbing and compelling . . . startlingly bittersweet . . . I couldn't stop reading and now I'm done I wish I could read it all over again