Warlight

A young man journeys back in time - through reality, memory, and imagination - to understand his unusual past.It is 1945, and London is still reeling from the Blitz. Apparently abandoned by their parents, 14-year-old Nathaniel and his sister, Rachel, are left in the care of an enigmatic figure named The Moth. They suspect he might be a criminal, and grow both more convinced and less concerned as they get to know his eccentric crew of friends. They all seem determined to protect and educate Rachel and Nathaniel (in rather unusual ways). But are they really what and who they claim to be? A dozen years later, Nathaniel begins to uncover all he didn’t know or understand at that time, and it is this journey – through reality, recollection, and imagination – that is told in this magnificent novel."...a tender coming-of-age story so warmly delivered you almost forget how much of its plot involves smuggling, spycraft and assassins ... The pleasure of spy novels is their suggestion that smarter and savvier figures are protecting our lives. Ondaatje tweaks the notion, considering Nathaniel’s life in the context of spies falling down on the job ... Ondaatje gets to have it both ways: His elegant prose is a pleasure in its own right and a scrim that Nathaniel layers over his own story, protecting himself against how abandoned he’s been. A love of secrets, for better or for worse, is his inheritance." - Mark Athitakis, The Minneapolis Star TribuneMichael Ondaatje Born in Sri Lanka, Ondaatje is the author of seven novels, a memoir, a non-fiction book on film and several books of poetry. The English Patient won the Booker Prize in 1992 and the Golden Booker in 2018; Anil’s Ghost won the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, the Giller Prize, and the Prix Médicis. Ondaatje was also shortlisted, for his entire body of work, for The Man Booker International Prize 2007. **LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018** An elegiac novel set in post-WW2 London about memory, family secrets and lies, from the internationally acclaimed author of The English Patient It is 1945, and London is still reeling from the Blitz. 14-year-old Nathaniel and his sister, Rachel, are apparently abandoned by their parents, left in the care of an enigmatic figure named The Moth. They suspect he might be a criminal, and grow both more convinced and less concerned as they get to know his eccentric crew of friends: men and women all who seem determined to protect Rachel and Nathaniel. But are they really what and who they claim to be? A dozen years later, Nathaniel journeys through recollection, reality and imagination to uncover all he didn't know or understand in that time, to piece together a story that feels something like the truth. 'A novel of shadowy brilliance' The Times 'Fiction as rich, as beautiful, as melancholy as life itself, written in the visionary language of memory' Observer 'Ondaatje brilliantly threads the mysteries and disguises and tangled loyalties and personal yearnings of the secret world... I haven't read a better novel this year' Telegraph From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of The English Patient: a mesmerizing new novel that tells a dramatic story set in the decade after World War II through the lives of a small group of unexpected characters and two teenagers whose lives are indelibly shaped by their unwitting involvement. In a narrative as beguiling and mysterious as memory itself—shadowed and luminous at once—we read the story of fourteen-year-old Nathaniel, and his older sister, Rachel. In 1945, just after World War II, they stay behind in London when their parents move to Singapore, leaving them in the care of a mysterious figure named The Moth. They suspect he might be a criminal, and they grow both more convinced and less concerned as they come to know his eccentric crew of friends: men and women joined by a shared history of unspecified service during the war, all of whom seem, in some way, determined now to protect, and educate (in rather unusual ways)... 'our Book Of The Year – And Maybe Of Ondaatje's Career' Daily Telegraph Books Of The Year **longlisted For The Man Booker Prize 2018** It Is 1945, And London Is Still Reeling From The Blitz. 14-year-old Nathaniel And His Sister, Rachel, Are Apparently Abandoned By Their Parents, Left In The Care Of An Enigmatic Figure Named The Moth. They Suspect He Might Be A Criminal, And Grow Both More Convinced And Less Concerned As They Get To Know His Eccentric Crew Of Friends: Men And Women All Who Seem Determined To Protect Rachel And Nathaniel. But Are They Really What And Who They Claim To Be? A Dozen Years Later, Nathaniel Journeys Through Recollection, Reality And Imagination To Uncover All He Didn’t Know Or Understand In That Time, To Piece Together A Story That Feels Something Like The Truth.