Description

‘Brilliant, compulsive and thrilling. I will be reading this book again!’ – Alice Winn, author of IN MEMORIAM

‘One of the best novels I’ve read this year.’ – Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre

‘You will love this book!’ – Jennifer Croft, translator of Flights by Olga Tokarczuk and author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

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Romania, 1989: a grey place of mysterious queues, ubiquitous informers and daily news flashes about a man-eating bear that is terrorising the country.

Amidst the daily drudge of work, rationing and careful conversation with neighbours, two lives unexpectedly collide when an idealistic police detective, Constantin, is tasked with solving a string of grisly murders, and a rebellious school child, Lia, is unwittingly drawn into her elderly neighbour’s seditious plot.

Dryly satirical, incredibly tense and deeply moving, ASTRONAUT! is both a detective novel and a coming-of-age tale, one with a perennially relevant message: the lies we accept today become the truths of tomorrow.

More praise for ASTRONAUT!:
‘Had me on the edge of my seat’ – Kenan Orhan, author of The Renovation
‘If Solzhenitsyn and Hans Christian Andersen had had literary offspring, it might be Oana Aristide.’ – Said Sayrafiezadeh, author of American Estrangement
‘Completely absorbing.’ – Georgina Godwin, broadcaster and literary journalist

Publisher Review

Astronaut! is brilliant, compulsive and thrilling. Aristide is a safe pair of hands for this uneasy story of life in a dictatorship. I will be reading this book again! * Alice Winn, author of IN MEMORIAM * Astronaut! is a brilliant and uniquely energising read. Aristide’s skill as a storyteller glimmers in every deftly navigated twist and turn of a remarkable plot that introduces us to remarkable characters from all walks of life, all in the grip of a tired totalitarianism they may (they hope) finally be able to put to rest. Even if you know nothing about Romanian history, you will love this book! * Jennifer Croft, author of THE EXTINCTION OF IRENA REY and translator of Olga Tokarczuk’s FLIGHTS * A brilliant, funny, moving novel set in 1980s Romania. It’s a gripping page-turner but more than any other book I’ve read, it gives a real sense of what it means to live under a totalitarian regime: the lies you must tell and the lies you must accept in order to survive – and what happens when you try to hold onto the truth. Aristide recreates this time so vividly, revealing the cruel deadening effects of dictatorship on ordinary people, its surreality and pettiness. It’s shocking to remember this is recent history; Aristide’s portrayal of a regime that insists on its own truth is a powerful and pertinent one. One of the best novels I’ve read this year. * Joanna Quinn, author of THE WHALEBONE THEATRE * This darkly comic novel strikes a perfect balance between deliciously macabre snickers and the death rattle of an authoritarian system. The magic and fantasies of youth are more levelheaded than the absurd realities of life under an oppressive regime, and child-hero Lia’s naive optimism and admiration of beauty amount to massive deeds of bravery that had me on the edge of my seat. An important book in times when it is easy to forget rebellions are made of small acts and actors, and anything is possible. * Kenan Orhan, author of THE RENOVATION * Part murder mystery, part fable, part unflinching account of life behind the Iron Curtain, Astronaut! is a tender, brilliant, and harrowing novel. If Solzhenitsyn and Hans Christian Andersen had had literary offspring, it might be Oana Aristide. * Said Sayrafiezadeh, author of AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT * I loved it. Oana has woven political satire, allegory, suspense, humour and fully realised characters into something utterly gripping. It’s sharp, original and completely absorbing. * Georgina Godwin, broadcaster and literary journalist *