The Echo Chamber

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The Echo Chamber
TheEchoChamber.jpg
First edition, with quote from Ali Smith
Author Luke Williams
Cover artist gray318
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Hamish Hamilton
Publication date
2011
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages384
ISBN 0-241-14300-4

The Echo Chamber is the debut novel of Scottish author Luke Williams, published in 2011. The Saltire Society awarded it the Scottish First Book of the Year prize that year. [1] As revealed in the book's acknowledgements, two of the chapters, extracts from the diary of Damaris, a young woman and Evie's first lover, were written by a friend, Natasha Soobramanien. [2]

Contents

Plot introduction

The novel concerns Evie Steppman, who aged 54 and living in Gullane in Scotland, tells of her life growing up in 1940s Lagos at the end of British rule in Nigeria, and more specifically of her auditory abilities as she maps the world around her through her amazing sense of hearing, beginning in the womb... with things happening.

Inspiration

In an interview with the Scottish Book Trust, Williams reveals that his interest in Nigeria started with authors such as Amos Tutuola, Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta, Ben Okri and Ken Saro-Wiwa. While studying History at the University of Edinburgh, he became fascinated by the end of the Colonial period in West Africa. At St Andrews University, he studied Imperial history and was shocked when he realised how little he was taught about the violence underpinning colonialism, for example the Benin Massacre, and it was this need to reveal some of this truth that provoked him to write the novel. [3]

Reception

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References

  1. The Saltire Society Literary Awards 2011 Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  2. 1 2 James Hopkin, "By the time you finish this rich and resonant book, your ears are sure to be twitching", The Guardian , Saturday 28 May 2011.
  3. Interview: Luke Williams on The Echo Chamber from the Scottish Book Trust. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  4. Reviewed by Jonathan Gibbs, The Independent, Friday 20 May 2011.
  5. "The Echo Chamber by Luke William", Kirkus Reviews, 19 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2013.