Description

Once there was a street in Paris and it was called the Street of Tailors. This was years back, in the blue mists of memory.

Now it’s the 1950s and Henri is the last tailor on the street. With meticulous precision he takes the measurements of men and notes them down in his leather-bound ledger. He draws on the cloth with a blue chalk, cuts the pieces and sews them together. When the suit is done, Henri adds a finishing touch: a blue Tekhelet thread hidden in the trousers somewhere, for luck. One day, the renowned French artist Yves Klein walks into the shop, and orders a suit.

Set in Paris, this atmospheric tale delicately intertwines three connected narratives and timelines, interspersed with observations of the colour blue. It is a meditation on truth and lies, memory and time and thought. It is a leap of the imagination, a leap into the void.

Publisher Review

'It is a story, unlike our ability to see colour, that haunts and intensifies rather than diminishes with time.' -Carmen Marcus, author of 'How Saints Die'; 'Seductively original, linguistically daring, almost dangerously immersive - with Blue Postcards, Douglas Bruton continues to build a deserved reputation as one of our most skilful story-tellers. A real de-light.' -Stephen May, author of the Costa shortlisted 'Life! Death! Prizes!'; 'I savoured every word of this beautiful novella and look forward to reading more of Bruton's work.' -Julie Corbin, author of 'A Lie For A Lie'; 'In 'Blue Postcards', Douglas Bruton weaves a master-tapestry out of the lives of dissimilar characters from post-war Paris; a Jewish tailor, the eccentric artist Yves Klein, a love-struck tourist, and a street conman. The novel - and the magic blue Tekhelet thread that stitches it together - will stay with readers forever, leaving them in a more beautiful and coincidental world.' -Julia Nemirovskaya, poet, playwright and writer