Penguin Books, Summer 2012 - Bookseller Services - Penguin Group

iSBN 978-0-14-312113-8 $16.00 ($17.00 CAN)
Fiction 5 5 /16 x 8 384 pp.
Rights: E00 Pub history: Viking hc 978-0-670-02283-0
On sale: 7/31/2012
SuGGeSTeD ORDeR
“ Alluring . . . a crafty first novel . . .
like the central character of Suskind’s
Perfume, Evie is blessed and cursed by the
heightened nature of her senses.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“ Ambitious . . . [Williams] can
ventriloquize riotous personalities. . . .
like Zadie Smith and Jeffrey Eugenides,
[he] sees personal metaphors in political
events.” —San Francisco Chronicle
A compelling story of family, empire, and
memory—“an ambitious and prize-worthy
debut” (The Sunday Times, London)
The Echo Chamber
A Novel
Luke Williams
Luke Williams’s exquisitely written debut novel is narrated by
Evie Steppman, a woman born with an extraordinarily acute sense
of hearing. Now, at fifty-four, alone in an attic in Scotland that is
filled with objects from her past, and with her powers of hearing
starting to fade, she sets out to record the events of her life. From
her recollections come an outpouring of stories that transcend
history; tales of a twelfth-century mapmaker mingle with memories
of Evie’s childhood growing up in Nigeria in the 1950s and her
travels across America in the 1960s. Williams’s fascination with
history and his talent for evoking multiple voices will bring to
mind the work of Salman Rushdie and David Mitchell.
n Received excellent reviews in the U.K. and U.S. upon publication
n For fans of Gunther Grass, Peter Carey, and Jonathan Safran Foer
n Also available as an e-book
luke williAMs divides his time between Edinburgh and
London. The Echo Chamber is his first novel.
Readers Guide available at penguin.com
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