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Spies in Canaan

'One of the most powerful and probing novels so far this year' - Financial Times, Best summer reads of 2022

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Spies in Canaan

By: David Park
Narrated by: William Hope
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Bloomsbury presents Spies in Canaan by David Park, read by William Hope.

A bold and unsettling parable about guilt, atonement and redemption from the winner of the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award

'It is seldom that one can say a book is perfect, but this is as close as I've seen in a very long time' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
'A bold and unsettling parable about guilt, atonement and redemption' IRISH TIMES

Michael has travelled a long way from his boyhood under the endless skies of the Midwest. His retirement is peaceful, if solitary. But one day there is a visitation: a mysterious car on the seafront, and a package delivered. From its contents, Michael understands that he has been commissioned to undertake a final journey.

As Michael makes his way deep into a distant desert – a strange and liminal landscape that lies between hell and redemption – he undertakes another journey, into long-suppressed memories: of Vietnam and the dying days of war, and to face a final accounting for what was done.

Taut, atmospheric and moving, Spies in Canaan is a powerful elegy to the pain of love, the guilt of old age, and the grace of atonement.

‘Another compact marvel … This is a meditative novel that, while investing heavily in a patient build-up of atmosphere, never forgets the need to put a foot on the gas’ DAILY MAIL
‘David Park’s novels are always elegantly written’ INDEPENDENT
'Unflinching, courageous, wise, alert to the thrill and sorrow of violence ... Adds to David Park's status as a superb novelist' FRANK MCGUINNESS©2022 David Park (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Military Emotionally Gripping Espionage
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Critic reviews

A layered tale told in masterful style. A writer's writer, a purveyor of thoughtful, atmospheric fiction that is mature in observation, structure, pace, character- all the good things that bring a book to life
An astonishing achievement
Immerses the reader … a poignant retrospective narrative full of loss and insight
One of the most powerful and probing novels so far this year
A short, sharp novel about memory, longing, regret and atonement
David Park’s novels are always elegantly written and I liked Spies in Canaan, a story about the redemption of a retired man whose past in Vietnam catches up with him
Spies in Canaan is a masterful exploration of how guilt, memory, love and loss can resurface in old age. In just 200 pages, Park manages to conjure with a deft, economical precision all the complexity of human experience
Park has written a remarkable novel … A wise reader will take it once straight through, gripped by the narrative, then read it a second time slowly, savouring the art and intelligence with which it has been made (ALLAN MASSIE)
Virtuosic ... A gripping, poignant story of loss and betrayal, of youthful ignorance and a lifetime's worth of regret, of the unreliability of memory when recounting the violence of war, set against the vital importance of having such testimony recorded for the ages
Set in the last months of the Vietnam War and in contemporary America, David Park's wonderfully complex novel is the work of a master craftsman. A wise reader will take it once straight through, gripped by the narrative, then read it a second time slowly, savouring its complexity, savouring the art and intelligence with which it has been made
With its superbly rich and descriptive language- a tornado, the desert and the teeming-with-life streets of Saigon all come alive under his pen and razor sharp dialogue. Near perfect
David Park transplants his great imagination from the fight at home to the shifting, scarifying battlegrounds of Asia in his new novel. How well he can create these landscapes and these people battling on both sides, fraught with suspicion, committing acts of treachery and redemption, ending as all wars must end with no peace, no peace at all. Unflinching, courageous, wise, alert to the thrill and sorrow of violence, Spies In Canaan adds to David Park's status as a superb novelist (FRANK MCGUINNESS)
Another compact marvel … electrifying … This is a meditative novel that, while investing heavily in a patient build-up of atmosphere, never forgets the need to put a foot on the gas
The Belfast author has steadily built a reputation as one of the finest writers on this island. In his tenth novel, he explores themes of guilt, atonement and redemption through the story of Michael, a Vietnam vet who faces his past on a journey into the desert
Spies in Canaan by David Park … Is an unsettling parable about guilt, atonement and redemption set in the US
All stars
Most relevant
It's really good but you have to stick with it. A story that is well worth hearing. Well delivered too.

Stick with it

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I found this beautifully written book to be thoughtful and profound.
The voice of the narrator was a perfect fit for the story.Highly recommended.

Thought provoking

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An excellent rhythm in the reading and words and a solid reflection on how we choose to live our lives and the rights and wrongs of our actions and how we must take responsibility for them.

spies in Canaan

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