The Echo Chamber

Enter the world of Evie Steppman, born into the dying days of the British Empire in Nigeria. It's loud and cacophonous. Why? Because Evie can hear things no one else can. Although she's too young to understand all the sounds she takes in, she hoards them in a vast internal sonic archive. Today, alone in an attic in Scotland, Evie's powers of hearing are starting to fade, and she must write her story before it disintegrates into a meaningless din. But the attic itself is not as quiet as she hoped. The scratching of mice, the hum of traffic, the tic-toc of a pocket watch and countless other sounds merge with the noises of Evie's past: her time in the womb, her childhood in Nigeria, her travels across America with her lover . . . A compelling story of family, empire, and memory'"an ambitious and prize-worthy debut" (The Sunday Times, London) Luke Williams's exquisitely written debut novel is narrated by Evie Steppman, a woman born with an extraordinarily acute sense of hearing. Now, at fifty-four, alone in an attic in Scotland that is filled with objects from her past, and with her powers of hearing starting to fade, she sets out to record the events of her life. From her recollections come an outpouring of stories that transcend history; tales of a twelfth-century mapmaker mingle with memories of Evie's childhood growing up in Nigeria in the 1950s and her travels across America in the 1960s. Williams's fascination with history and his talent for evoking multiple voices will bring to mind the work of Salman Rushdie and David Mitchell. In coming into the world Evie Steppman pushed her mother out of it. Born two months late but with an extraordinary gift of hearing, Evie has an impression of the world vastly different to the experiences of other people. This title tells us the strange story of her origins and life through her unique sensory gifts.