In the Place of Fallen Leaves

In the Place of Fallen Leaves

First edition
Author	Tim Pears
Cover artist	Emma Parker [1]
Language	English
Publisher	Hamish Hamilton (UK) Donald I Fine (US)
Publication date	1993 (UK), 1995 (US)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print
Pages	320
ISBN	0-241-13322-X

In the Place of Fallen Leaves is Tim Pears's debut novel, published in 1993. It won the Ruth Hadden Memorial Award in 1993 ^[2] and the Hawthornden Prize in 1994. ^[3]

Inspiration

On his website, Tim Pears reveals that the novel is set in the Devon village where he grew up (Trusham ^[4] on the edge of Dartmoor) He had written many 'appalling' poems in his twenties then adapted one into a story; this liberated him and he never wrote another poem; just stories which eventually became this, his first novel. He cites his other influences as Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude , Marc Chagall’s paintings of the Russian Pale, Mikhail Sholokhov’s tales of Don Cossacks, and New Zealander Vincent Ward’s film Vigil . ^[5]

Plot introduction

It is set in the long, hot summer of 1984 in an isolated Devon village on the edge of Dartmoor where thirteen-year-old Alison is growing up, the youngest member of a farming family. The story covers scenes from Alison's own life as well as those of her neighbours, siblings, parents and grandparents.

Reception

• "By turns elegiac, moving and extremely funny, Pears is also unafraid to muscle up his formidable powers of Proustian evocation. An extraordinarily promising debut" - Time Out ^{[ citation needed ]}
• "Reminiscent of Faulkner and Garcia Marquez, the writing retains a very English scale ... A triumph ... Sensitive, heart-warming and hallucunatory." - Financial Times ^{[ citation needed ]}
• "In the Place of Fallen Leaves is more perfect than any first novel deserves to be." - The Observer ^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "In the Place of Fallen Leaves by Tim Pears: Fine Hardcover (1993) First Edition., Signed by Author | bunkembooks". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
2. "Tim Pears". Ruskin. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
3. "Tim Pears". A. M. Heath. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
4. "Authors Celebrate Club Anniversary". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.

External links

• Official website