In the Place of Fallen Leaves

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In the Place of Fallen Leaves
InThePlaceOfFallenLeaves.jpg
First edition
Author Tim Pears
Cover artistEmma Parker [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Hamish Hamilton (UK)
Donald I Fine (US)
Publication date
1993 (UK), 1995 (US)
Media typePrint
Pages320
ISBN 0-241-13322-X

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

Contents

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 Garcia Marquez’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

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References

Official website