The Deer Wedding by Penny Simpson
The Deer Wedding by Penny Simpson
From the author of The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum
ISBN:9780956012500 £9.99. Published on 30 September 2010
“Compelling, humane... a novel of remarkable delicacy and power.... Its central subject – how personal and collective histories mesh – has never been more vital.” Michael Symmons Roberts
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The Deer Wedding is a novel set in Croatia, spanning two generations, two brutal wars and two very special works of art. In 1941, artist Antun Fiskovic' experiences a sea-change in his fortunes following the dramatic revelation of the identity of his real parents, just as occupying forces take over the government of his country. Fifty years later, a young woman called Dagmar Petric' tries to solve the mystery surrounding her journalist father's premature death.
"Antun knew it would work, the minute he caught sight of the block of stone left outside the courtyard. The sun picked out the sheen of the tiny seashells embedded in the soft cream stone. In his mind's eye, he saw Milan's torso emerge from its nubbly texture, as if he were a storybook genie softly shooting through a bottle's stem. He crouched down in front of the block and ran his hands over its surface. He could sense by touch alone where his lover's shoulders would break through."
Antun and Dagmar's stories come together in 1998, three years after civil war has torn apart the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The citizens of a newly-independent Croatia are asking questions about its future; most urgently: can a country ravaged by war ever move beyond the dogma of vengeance? Dagmar learns that Antun met with her father just weeks before he died, a chance discovery that sets her on a collision course with what she thought she knew of her family's history. Antun is also coming face-to-face with the past, seeking to establish his legacy, but bitterly aware that his work has long been mired in controversy.
Set in Zagreb, Split and late Nineties Hvar - a former tourist paradise now home to war refugees - this novel interweaves public and private history through the catalyst of family secrets unearthed, the fallout of war and the journey to personal and national reconciliation.
Look inside: The Deer Wedding Chaps 2 & 3 (PDF)
Look inside: Author Notes on The Deer Wedding (PDF)
Praise for The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum
A sumptuously-detailed and fantastical novel at once full of disturbing
delicacy... humour, verve and hallucinatory strangenessTLS
delicacy... humour, verve and hallucinatory strangenessTLS
A supremely-entertaining, often moving, fantastic roll through European history.Cambria magazine
A feast of language; Simpson's novel is served on a platter embellished with similes and metaphors so strong that their aromas permeate the text with every page.Jewish Book World
Compelling... superb storytelling and an almost Zola-esque delight in detailed and richly-sensuous description.Wales Literature Exchange
Penny Simpson is the 2007 winner of the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition and TMA Critic of the Year. Her short fiction will feature in the Dalkey Archive Press (US) collection, Best European Fiction, 2010. She is a Fellow of the Hawthenden International Writers Centre. This is her second novel.
Interview with Penny on Dalkey Archive Press
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