A layered and thrilling suspense novel that grapples with how to live as a woman in the modern world - or in the pages of a book - when the stakes are dangerously high.
When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she’s desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of a new life and single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative writing group.
When a troubled student starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate.
Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?
At once a breathless battle-of-wits and a disarming exploration of sexual politics, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times.
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'Gripping and strange in the best possible way: the perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller' MARIA SEMPLE, bestselling author of Where d'ya go Bernadette?
"When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it's meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she's desperate to forget. But when one of her students starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?"--Publisher description
Description:
A layered and thrilling suspense novel that grapples with how to live as a woman in the modern world - or in the pages of a book - when the stakes are dangerously high. When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she’s desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of a new life and single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative writing group. When a troubled student starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late? At once a breathless battle-of-wits and a disarming exploration of sexual politics, The Body Lies is an essential book for our times. ___________________ 'Gripping and strange in the best possible way: the perfect marriage of risky literary fiction and full-on thriller' MARIA SEMPLE, bestselling author of Where d'ya go Bernadette?"When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote countryside, it's meant to be a fresh start, away from the big city and the scene of a violent assault she's desperate to forget. But when one of her students starts sending in chapters from his novel that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognises herself as the main character in his book - and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it's too late?"--Publisher description