- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Old Street Publishing (12 May 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905847963
- ISBN-13: 978-1905847969
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.6 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 706,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Extraordinary, original and simultaneously both deep and lightheartedly charming . . . Jessica Grant has an engaging, wry and forthright style, which echoes Don DeLillo, Lewis Carroll and Kurt Vonnegut Jr . . . A delight' GLOBE & MAIL-- 'Jessica Grant's debut novel is one of those rare books that manage to entwine humour in this case, even outright silliness with poignant insight and a captivating plot.' QUILL & QUIRE -- --*
Product Description
When Audrey Flowers learns that her father has been hit on the head by a Christmas tree and is in a coma, she knows what she must do: leave Winifred her tortoise behind, fly home, make a moving speech at his bedside and wait for him to wake up. However things don't quite work out that way. Instead, Audrey finds herself embarking on an extraordinary journey: one full of puzzlement and pain- but one that could also light up her life. Jesica Grant's debut novel is a warm-hearted, funny and wise book that unfolds in a world that is not quite our own; a place where you might just live forever if you can avoid the dangers (cliffs when you are lonely, staircases when you are tired), and where the truth can be hidden in the armrest of your airline seat.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I picked up this book because of the lovely cover and cheap price. I'm so glad I did - it is the loveliest book I've read for ages. This is the story of someone dealing with grief and unravelling a family mystery, but the voice is funny, odd, delightful and surprising and I spent half my time laughing. And what's not to like about a book that's co-narrated by a tortoise about a family that includes an immortal mouse? It sounds strange but honestly, this is good good GOOD and everyone should buy a copy, read it and then buy more for everyone else they know. It'll cheer them up and set them thinking and you can't get better than that.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A staggeringly original, heartfelt, hilarious and touching novel. The character of Audrey Flowers is up there with Owen Meany and Oscar (from Extremely loud and incredibly close) as one of the most unique, charming characters I have had the privilege to encounter in a book.
To say this is a quirky book is to put it mildly. It juggles with language and concepts, plays with assumptions and judgements and entertains, thrills and melts your heart all at the same time.
It shines brightly from all the books I've read in the last five years or so as one that towers with brilliance and heart.
If you appreciate imagination, humour and the wonderful peculiarity of life I would recommend you allow Audrey, her father, her father's friend and indeed her tortoise into your own world. It certainly enriched my reading life and left me grateful that there are authors like Jessica Grant still writing great novels celebrating the beauty of being on the alternative side of the dreaded notion of normality.
To say this is a quirky book is to put it mildly. It juggles with language and concepts, plays with assumptions and judgements and entertains, thrills and melts your heart all at the same time.
It shines brightly from all the books I've read in the last five years or so as one that towers with brilliance and heart.
If you appreciate imagination, humour and the wonderful peculiarity of life I would recommend you allow Audrey, her father, her father's friend and indeed her tortoise into your own world. It certainly enriched my reading life and left me grateful that there are authors like Jessica Grant still writing great novels celebrating the beauty of being on the alternative side of the dreaded notion of normality.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jessica Grant's Come, Thou Tortoise is one of the best novels I've read this decade. I can't remember a warmer, sweeter, sadder or funnier novel. We get pulled into a world in which all sorts of love are mixed with all sorts of adventures and every single page brings us something to laugh about and something to think and think and think about. The novel's heroine, Audrey Flowers rivals John Irving's Owen Meany as a character who delights, amuses, teaches and leaves us totally different from the people we were before we met her. Read it!! ...And give it to anyone you know who needs a bit of joy and refreshment.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Rave review
This is a marvellous, entrancing and inspiring book. Funny, intelligent, deep. For anyone who's spent time there, the Newfoundland references are a huge bonus (just a pity... Read more
Published 3 months ago by DrDx
Great. Quirky, beautiful & inspired
I bought this for my Canadian friend who is interested in first novels. He found it really hard to get into because of the limited punctuation - no speech marks but a fair amount... Read more
Published 7 months ago by A Dunlop
The love of my life
I never thought it was possible to love book as much as I love this book. I have owned my copy a year and read it numerous times and taken it on every trip. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Summergirl
come thou tortoise
Read previous edition smaller book, smaller type better. Book I ordered from Amazon was a present. Type to large and book too large would have preferred smaller. Read more
Published 14 months ago by c. newton
Brilliant debut novel!
I was given this book as a Christmas present and absolutely loved it. Jessica Grant has a unique style of writing. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Scarlett
Excellent
I thought this book was fantastic and have recommended it to a lot of people. The writing is very clever and I found the characters likeable and interesting. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jessica Lockley
Not well done
This is a book about a girl who has - we are told a third of the way through the book - a low IQ. Well, for a start, the girl presented in this book certainly has problems but I... Read more
Published on 15 May 2010 by pigsmayfly
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