| Author | Eli Goldstone |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Published | May 4, 2017 (Granta Books) |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 208pp |
| ISBN | 1783783494 |
| OCLC | 992450880 |
Strange Heart Beating is the debut novel of Eli Goldstone, published in 2017 by Granta Books. [1] The title of the novel comes from W.B. Yeats' 1923 sonnet "Leda and the Swan". [2] The protagonist of the novel, Seb, travels to Latvia to learn more about his wife, Leda, recently deceased in a freak accident involving a swan. The inspiration for the novel came to the author while pursuing a creative writing masters' degree when she took a trip to Latvia, where along with neighbouring Lithuania she has ancestral links. [1] Goldstone has characterised writing the novel as her way of dealing with her negative obsession with death. [1]
In a review for The Financial Times , Catherine Taylor said that the novel "with its savage yet comforting undercurrent of a swan as an emblem of the soul reborn, is an ardent examination of loss". [2] John Harding called out the story in The Daily Mail for being "a variation of a well-worn plot" that "grows increasingly bonkers" but concluded that "it’s an enjoyable trip, wryly amusing and touching". [3] In The Herald , reviewer Alastair Mabbott found the novel's "bleak" tone "often makes it hard to persevere with". [4] It was featured in The Guardian's 150-strong "Not the Booker prize 2017" longlist, [5] but did not make the 5-novel shortlist. [6]
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