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Product Description
Product Description
The Ground Remembers is a dark, suburban myth about love, jealousy, shame and the things we cannot throw away. When Helen Murray disappeared on her eighteenth birthday ten years ago,most on the Avenue blamed Edwin and Phillip. Edwin stayed and numbed himself. Phillip ran as far as he could. On the morning of this tenth anniversary however, Edwin makes a remarkable discovery and with a letter in his hand, and dirt still fresh beneath his fingernails sets out on a journey to find Phillip and the truth. As Edwin hunts down Philip, his quarry sits and drinks at the same pub seat he has for the last ten years fully aware that Edwin is coming for him.
About the Author
Matthews debut novel Playing Mercy was published by Parthian Books in May 2005 and has been optioned by 11:22 Entertainment for whom Matthew is in the process of adapting the novel for the screen. It was also listed as one of the fourteen works vying for the 2006 International Dylan Thomas Prize.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In his latest book, Scott shows the kind of maturity and development which page by page showcases the sophisticated writer he is becoming. His book is a portrayal of ordinary lives and their extraordinary stories - centred on the doomed friendship of two boys now men, and their struggle to understand their place in the world, while haunted by the numbing loss of their first love years ago. Scott gives voice to a backing cast of characters as quintessential as Falstaff, whose place as local legends, champions within their small boundaries, are instantly recognisable to anyone who listens to the lives and stories in their own communities.
As a writer Scott has created a truly British novel, which is surprising only because of the other writers he recalls among them John Iriving and Paul Auster. Like Auster, he laces his stories with the kind of recurring ideas that build a momentum and meaning of their own, with the difference that Scott's teasing finally rewards as the book thunders towards its giant crescendo. Stylistically, Scott is lyrical in his use of language, as soulful as the music he quotes.
Ultimately a meaty and satisfying read, attention now needs to be paid to this young writer who has bucked the trend of fashionable stories of a globalising world, to mine the rich seam of life found in the Pubs, Spars and Avenues near you .
As a writer Scott has created a truly British novel, which is surprising only because of the other writers he recalls among them John Iriving and Paul Auster. Like Auster, he laces his stories with the kind of recurring ideas that build a momentum and meaning of their own, with the difference that Scott's teasing finally rewards as the book thunders towards its giant crescendo. Stylistically, Scott is lyrical in his use of language, as soulful as the music he quotes.
Ultimately a meaty and satisfying read, attention now needs to be paid to this young writer who has bucked the trend of fashionable stories of a globalising world, to mine the rich seam of life found in the Pubs, Spars and Avenues near you .
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Ground Remembers is the story of two friends coming to terms with a teenage trauma. Ten years later the facts of this trauma are going to rise from the ground.
Edwin and Phillip were best friends. Together they spent time sitting outside the local pub waiting to be old enough to go inside. They'd go on adventures in the woods, along the canal, past the dingle and up to the monument. And Helen always went with them. Sweet, fragile, insightful and a writer of stories, both boys fall for her.
When they reach the age of eighteen, something happens that will send all three of them spinning off on separate, desperate courses, and The Ground Remembers unpicks this event as the consequences of that time are brought back to the avenue where they grew up in a very strange manner indeed.
There are many things about this book that I really liked. First off, it's a page turner. It's told in such a way that you are constantly needing to know more. But make no bones about it, this is not a thriller. It's a finely written character study of two people who were slammed off course by one of life's events. In this way it's tragic because I liked both characters and I have to say that I really empathised with Phillip, who found it easier to deal with things by turning away from them. In this story we meet him as a bar fly (aged 28) who has accepted a kind of half-existence because he knows that if he wants a full life then he has to get over the wall that is What Happened To Helen. And he can't face that.
The story deals with themes of the past, memory and the ghosts that haunt us through memory. But the narrative hand that guides you through this delicate tale is measured so there's nothing unsubtle. The whole book has a melancholic tone to it that fits the story very well.
But the thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was the character of Helen. She's hardly in it, but her ghost is a constant presence and although there are only a few brushstrokes in the book, her character is vividly realised. We get to see her more through the stories she tells and it was when I was reading these that the book really took off for me. They are beautiful little fables about the crapness and cruelty of man - my favourite type of stories! - expertly executed.
Finally, there's something extremely strange about this book that I can't say too much about because it only really becomes apparent later on and to talk about it here would be to give it away. It involves Helen, and her stories, and how these stories disrupt something, somehow, in the fabric of physics. I guess that's the only way to say it. Intrigued? Well buy the book!
Edwin and Phillip were best friends. Together they spent time sitting outside the local pub waiting to be old enough to go inside. They'd go on adventures in the woods, along the canal, past the dingle and up to the monument. And Helen always went with them. Sweet, fragile, insightful and a writer of stories, both boys fall for her.
When they reach the age of eighteen, something happens that will send all three of them spinning off on separate, desperate courses, and The Ground Remembers unpicks this event as the consequences of that time are brought back to the avenue where they grew up in a very strange manner indeed.
There are many things about this book that I really liked. First off, it's a page turner. It's told in such a way that you are constantly needing to know more. But make no bones about it, this is not a thriller. It's a finely written character study of two people who were slammed off course by one of life's events. In this way it's tragic because I liked both characters and I have to say that I really empathised with Phillip, who found it easier to deal with things by turning away from them. In this story we meet him as a bar fly (aged 28) who has accepted a kind of half-existence because he knows that if he wants a full life then he has to get over the wall that is What Happened To Helen. And he can't face that.
The story deals with themes of the past, memory and the ghosts that haunt us through memory. But the narrative hand that guides you through this delicate tale is measured so there's nothing unsubtle. The whole book has a melancholic tone to it that fits the story very well.
But the thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was the character of Helen. She's hardly in it, but her ghost is a constant presence and although there are only a few brushstrokes in the book, her character is vividly realised. We get to see her more through the stories she tells and it was when I was reading these that the book really took off for me. They are beautiful little fables about the crapness and cruelty of man - my favourite type of stories! - expertly executed.
Finally, there's something extremely strange about this book that I can't say too much about because it only really becomes apparent later on and to talk about it here would be to give it away. It involves Helen, and her stories, and how these stories disrupt something, somehow, in the fabric of physics. I guess that's the only way to say it. Intrigued? Well buy the book!
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