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英國小說家Tessa Hadley連獲大獎，繼當今最高額文學獎之一溫德姆坎貝爾文學大獎（Windham-Campbell Prize），再以小說《The Past》榮獲2016年英國霍桑登文學獎（Hawthornden Prize 2016 ），是創辦於1919年歷史悠久的文學獎項。Hadley過去出版過五部長篇小說、二本短篇故事集，出色的寫作功力被譽為媲美艾莉絲．孟若（Alice Munro），精準刻劃幽微人情，特別是家庭關係在沉默、回憶中的暗濤洶湧。最新小說《The Past》更被視為是其最具野心顛峰之作。

故事描述：

年屆中年的一家四姊弟，陸續抵達英國薩默塞特鄉間的外祖父家老宅。這極可能是他們最後一次在此聚首，在接下來三週炎熱而漫長的夏日假期裡，他們必須決定是否出售這幢充滿兒時回憶但頹圮的老屋，如今隱然騷動的緊張與秘密，也將以意想不到的方式浮上檯面。

藝術家浪漫性格的愛麗絲最先抵達，因為一時軟弱，竟讓前男友的兒子卡辛同行；務實的數學教師法蘭，獨自帶著二名稚齡小孩前往，丈夫再度食言缺席令她萬分沮喪。大姐海瑞雅年輕時曾熱衷社會運動，如今冷淡矜持，獨來獨往。唯一的兒子羅藍是哲學教授，與女兒莫莉和新婚妻子過了一天才姍姍來遲，他的姊妹都對這位家族新成員沒有好感。卡辛一見正值十六歲青春年華的莫莉，便盤算著誘惑行動……

家族故事與沉默無聲交織，微小的不安逐漸演變成家族危機，法蘭的孩子意外在樹林裡的廢棄木屋發現了一個醜陋的秘密，激情在最意想不到之處迸發，連最沉靜自持的大姐海瑞雅也無法抵擋。《The Past》分成三段結構，第一及第三部敘述的是四姐弟聚首的現在，中間的第二部份則跳回1968年，他們的母親決定離開丈夫，帶著孩子回到娘家撫養。小說家同時以令人不安的精準與過人的同理，描繪著這場家族聚會中湧現的欲望、嫉妒、記憶與情感的慰藉，這個家體現的布爾喬亞、有文化、儀式性的生活方式如何一步步瓦解，分崩離析，展現高超的技藝。

 

Tessa Hadley is the author five highly praised novels, Accidents in the Home, which was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, Everything Will Be All Right, The Master Bedroom, The London Train and Clever Girl, and two collections of stories,Sunstroke and Married Love. She lives in London and is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Her stories appear regularly in the New Yorker and other magazines.

 

"I find Tessa Hadley’s work genuinely helpful, especially when it comes to the big subjects: love and marriage, the political versus the personal, children, friendship. And then there are the sentences themselves, so precise and beautiful, often sly, sometimes devastating, always expertly paced. Few writers give me such consistent pleasure." (Zadie Smith)

"Tessa Hadley recruits admirers with each book. She writes with authority, and with delicacy: she explores nuance, but speaks plainly; she is one of those writers a reader trusts." (Hilary Mantel)

“A fresh take on a familiar story of fractious family reunions where old resentments resurface, new alliances form, and long-buried secrets are uncovered. A great read whether at the cottage or just dreaming of one.” (Library Journal, starred review)

“Masterful…. Captures the gentle tragedies of living, losses, and regrets…. Hadley is the patron saint of ordinary lives; her trademark empathy and sharp insight are out in force here.” (Kirkus, starred review)

"The Past is a hugely enjoyable and keenly intelligent novel, brimming with the vitality of unruly desire." (Sameer Rahim, four stars Daily Telegraph)

“An exquisite writer, a writer’s writer, with a fine eye for detail and a way of crafting sentences that make you stop and inhale . . . Hadley should be a bestseller rather than literary fiction’s best kept secret.”—The Times (London)