Description

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2021

‘Seductive . . . Gorgeous’ The Times
‘Gives voice to one of fiction’s most conspicuously absent women’ i

Word has come. King Lear is dead. His three daughters too, broken in battle. But someone has survived: Lear’s queen.

Though her grief and rage threaten to crack the earth open, she knows she must seek answers. Why was she exiled? What has happened to Kent, her oldest friend? And what will become of her now? To find peace she must reckon with her past and make a terrible choice – one upon which her destiny rests.

Publisher Review

Poetic . . . Distinctive and compelling . . . Thorp's poignant and surprising narrative allows a character absent from the original play to obtain her long overdue agency * * Observer * * Seductive . . . Gorgeous * * The Times * * Gorgeously written . . . artful and moving . . . a beautiful triumph * * New York Times * * Thorp's vivid debut novel gives voice to one of fiction's most conspicuously absent women . . . Lyrical . . . Thorp's distinctive style is heady and evocative . . . Learwife slots into a strong alternative canon of feminist retellings of classic stories * * i * * Original, intriguing . . . Thorp's novel is beautifully written in rich, imaginative prose * * Sunday Times, Best New Historical Fiction * * The wife of King Lear is given a powerful voice in this haunting narrative of her life . . . The writing in this novel is pitch-perfect: lyrical, imaginative and there to savour . . . Fascinating and heart-wrenching * * Daily Mail * * This vivid reimagining of King Lear's wife shows Shakespearean scholars what they are missing . . . An original and highly accomplished debut that reimagines the life of a woman written out of literary history . . . A fresh perspective on an age-old tale . . . With Learwife, Thorp also joins the ranks of authors such as Pat Barker, Natalie Haynes and Madeline Miller, who have in recent times successfully depicted female characters omitted from myth and literary history . . . Thorp is a stylish writer, who blends old and new worlds in prose that is elegant, rhythmic and innovative * * Irish Times * * Thorp's prose is sweepingly lyrical; studded with jewels, wrapped in rich fabrics, blooming with resonant images: light of all sorts - sun, moon, torches, conflagration; the changing face of water. She finds mystery in the everyday, locates the poison that lurks within * * Spectator * * Tells the story of King Lear's wife in a blistering reimagination . . . A must for fans of Margaret Atwood, Sarah Waters, Pat Barker and Natalie Haynes * * Irish Independent * * With Learwife, J.R. Thorp has created an entire world out of a void. A stunning voice, hers is one you will remember, and look out for, in the years to come -- JING-JING LEE, author of the Women's Prize-longlisted HOW WE DISAPPEARED