Description

A WHITE REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘It leaves the reader moved and subtly changed, as if she had become part of the story’ Hilary Mantel

‘So moving and delicate and terrifying and haunting’ Maggie O’Farrell

The highly anticipated new novel from the Costa-award winning, three-times Booker-longlisted author of Reservoir 13.

When an Antarctic research expedition goes wrong, the consequences are far-reaching – for the men involved and for their families back home.

Robert ‘Doc’ Wright, a veteran of Antarctic field work, holds the clues to what happened, but he is no longer able to communicate them. While Anna, his wife, navigates the sharp contours of her new life as a carer, Robert is forced to learn a whole new way to be in the world.

Award-winning novelist Jon McGregor returns with a stunning novel that mesmerizingly and tenderly unpicks the notion of heroism and explores the indomitable human impulse to tell our stories – even when words fail us. A meditation on the line between sacrifice and selfishness this is a story of the undervalued, unrecognised courage it can take just to get through the day.

Publisher Review

Praise for Lean Fall Stand: 'Lean Fall Stand is a beautiful piece of work and should win a roomful of prizes. Jon McGregor writes plainly and exactly, like a poet, and the precision of his writing makes every heartbeat register. The quality of his attention is a flicker of light around the fragile human condition, and it leaves the reader moved and subtly changed, as if she had become part of the story' Hilary Mantel 'A spectacular book ... It does what Jon McGregor does so well: examine the widening ripples of a single event. I read it again, as soon as I'd finished' Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet 'Jon McGregor has crafted a unique narrative, encompassing frozen wastes & altered interior landscapes. The most gripping piece of writing I've read in a long time: Sit. Read. Applaud' Jarvis Cocker 'Exceptional. ... So moving, and the use of language is remarkable. I absolutely loved it' David Nicholls, author of Sweet Sorrow 'A genuinely fascinating book and a troubling, riveting reading experience. A bold and masterful investigation into the weather system of the human mind' Max Porter, author of The Death of Francis Bacon 'Utterly original. Jaw-dropping. The sort of book you'll think about for ages' Paula Hawkins, author of A Slow Fire Burning 'A genuine masterpiece: poised, multilayered and full of the most astonishingly beautiful prose' Alex Preston, Observer 'Maintains a compelling tension throughout, even as the elements generating that tension change from physical peril to hospitalisation to the thousand micro-dramas of recovery. An unforgettable book' Chris Powers, author of A Lonely Man 'A wonderful, gripping novel: horror, heartbreak, hope' Charlotte Mendelson, author of Almost English