From the bestselling author of BEHIND HER EYES comes a beautiful, harrowing, heartbreaking story, filled with exquisite truths.
‘A beautiful story, honestly told’ says Neil Gaiman.
Tonight is a special terrible night.
A woman sits at her father’s bedside, watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life. Her brothers and sisters – all broken, their bonds fragile – have been there for the past week, but now she is alone.
And that’s when it always comes.
The clock ticks, the darkness beckons.
If it comes at all.
‘A beautiful story, honestly told’ says Neil Gaiman.
Tonight is a special terrible night.
A woman sits at her father’s bedside, watching the clock tick away the last hours of his life. Her brothers and sisters – all broken, their bonds fragile – have been there for the past week, but now she is alone.
And that’s when it always comes.
The clock ticks, the darkness beckons.
If it comes at all.
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Reviews
A beautiful story, honestly told
The Language of Dying will take your breath away, and send shivers up your spine, as it did mine at times. But only after it's broken your heart
This is writing in another league: honest, courageous, startling and absolutely lucid
A beautiful novel short, sharp and told with painful honesty, which I would say is the product of a writer at the very top of her game
The contrast of beauty and despair is one that makes this book powerful and unforgettable
This is scary, and terrifying, miserable and horrifying, and yet it sucks you in from the very first page through to the last, and will stick in your mind for a long time after you've closed the book
A wonderful novella, The Language of Dying is a breathtakingly honest portrayal of real people going through tough times
One of the best books I've read in a long time. It's a subtle, beautifully written, harrowing story that gets under your skin and stays with you long after you turn the final page. Highly recommended
A beautiful, beautiful book
Pinborough demonstrates the ability to skewer relationships and emotions with precise phrases
Touches my heart and soul in a way that is almost indescribable . . . I really cannot recommend this highly enough
Poetic, powerful and beautiful . . . It moved me deeply
Prove[s] that sometimes books are exactly what you need and can show you truths you think no one else quite understands apart from you. I can't recommend it enough, without question my book of the year
This contemplative, dreamy book takes the sweet, sordid melancholy of a woman's last days with her father, and grazes it with moonlight
Devastatingly beautiful but strangely reassuring . . . it's beautifully written, moving and important. Sarah Pinborough has created something truly special
Something very special . . . a stand out read - one that I know will stick with me for many years to come
Pinborough's ability to write so beautifully means you cannot help but read on
Honestly, I'm completely blown away by The Language of Dying
Dark and compelling
The Language of Dying is hard to read at times because it forces us to analyse how we've reacted when going through the grieving process, and dredges up our own past hurts, but it should be commended for doing so
Effective and subtly affecting, this is a beautiful, sometimes harrowing story that deals with the most devastating of life's experiences in a delicate and thoughtful manner
Captures the haunting and mundane vigil as a loved one nears death as well as the complexities of how families deal with this tension. Moments of strange fantasy make this meditation on loss both unexpected and meaningful
Full of conflicting emotions: love, fear, anger, joy. The prose is evocative and moody, making The Language of Dying a perfect novel for those nighttime hours at home when everyone else id fast asleep. The darkness of the storyteller's inner world echoes on every page