Grace McCleen

When her father's job is threated by a strike and the taunting of her fellow classmates at school slips into dangerous territory, ten-year-old Judith McPherson builds a miniature model of the Promised Land to escape her troubles.

A Novel

The Land of Decoration

A poem wrapped in brown paper. A man, a woman, a city, and a past that must not be remembered. Elizabeth Stone, a respected academic, has a new lease on life. In remission from cancer, she returns to the city where she was a student over thirty years ago to investigate some little-known papers by T.S. Eliot, which she believes contain the seeds of her masterpiece; a masterpiece that centres on a poem given to her when she was eighteen by the elusive Professor Hunt ... But as the days pass in the city she loves and her friendship with Professor Hunt is rekindled, her memories return her to a time shadowed by loneliness, longing and quiet despair, and to an undeclared but overwhelming love. Paralysed by the fear of writing something worthless, haunted by a sense of waste, Elizabeth Stone comes to realise she is facing the biggest test of her life.

The Professor of Poetry

Bernardine Evaristo

Nikesh Shukla

Carys Bray

Donal Ryan

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

D. W. Wilson

'Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda Fitzgerald Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love. The publication of How Much the Heart Can Hold is heralded by a Sceptre short story competition. The winning story, based on a concept of love, will be published in the paperback edition.

Seven Stories on Love

How Much the Heart Can Hold

Il posto dei miracoli

I thought it began the day Father came home without work. Then I thought perhaps it really began the day we arrived at the farm, rumbled up the track, opened the gate and stood looking around as if we had found ourselves in some enchanted land ... Something happened on Madeline's fourteenth birthday, something so traumatic that it triggered her mental breakdown. Many years later, she still can't - or perhaps won't - recall the events of that night. A charismatic new psychiatrist, Dr Lucas, believes he can unlock Madeline's memory by taking her step by step through the preceding year, when her father moved the family to an island he was certain God had guided them to. Money was short, her mother often unwell and her father a volatile presence. Yet Madeline loved their rural idyll, sensing God in every blade of grass; and when things started to go wrong, she thought she knew how to put them right. But as Dr Lucas unearths the past, it becomes apparent that she was seriously misguided - and that he is treading on very dangerous ground. Lyrically evoking the rhythms and beauty of the natural world, The Offering is a novel taut with foreboding, a haunting tale of misplaced faith and a heartbreakingly damaged psyche.

The offering

De 10-jarige Judith wordt door haar vader opgevoed. Op school wordt ze gepest vanwege haar strenggelovige kijk op de wereld. Hoewel ze tijdens Bijbelstudie keer op keer haar vader bevraagt waarom God onnavolgbaar is, gelooft ze blindelings. Op haar kamer creëert ze haar eigen wereld, een afspiegeling van het stadje waarin ze opgroeit, opgebouwd uit gevonden voorwerpen. Op een zondagavond laat Judith een sneeuwstorm van watten over haar landje vallen. De volgende ochtend is de echte wereld ook wit. Judith gelooft dat ze zelf wonderen kan doen, vooral als God zelf zegt dat zij zijn uitverkorene is. Maar de gevolgen die deze nieuw verworven macht met zich meebrengt, zijn niet te overzien.

Het land van melk en honing

It was the year when Madeline's family moved to an island her father believed God had guided him to. It was a place where she revelled in the natural beauty of their surroundings. It was a time of euphoria, but also of successive disasters. It was the night Madeline turned fourteen, when she did something she thought would save her beloved mother. Something so traumatic that she cannot now recall it, but her suave new psychiatrist thinks he knows how to unlock her memory. He is treading on very dangerous ground.

The Offering

A story from Grace McCleen to stir the heart and awaken vital conversations about love.

Anima: A Story from the collection, I Am Heathcliff

Det herlige Land er en gribende fortælling om en lille piges livtag med troen og tvivlen, med ensomhed og savn. Judith McPherson er ti år gammel og bor alene med sin far i et hus fyldt med støvede, gamle ting og arvestykker fra den mor, hun aldrig har kendt. Judith ser på verden gennem den tro, hun er vokset op med, og hvor andre ser skrald, ser hun muligheder. Som en flugt fra drillerierne i skolen bygger hun en model af det forjættede land, som hun kalder Det herlige Land. Måske, tænker hun, kunne hun lave sne af barberskum, bomuldsstof og lim? Måske ville skolen så være lukket på mandag? Da Judith vågner næste dag, er verden udenfor hendes vindue helt hvid. Hun har udført sit første mirakel. Og det bliver starten på alle hendes problemer ... Grace McCleen er født i 1981 i Wales, England. Hun har læst ved universiteterne i Oxford og York, inden hun blev forfatter og musiker på fuld tid. Det herlige Land er hendes første roman, og den blev tildelt debutantprisen the Desmond Elliott Prize i 2012.

Det herlige land

Elizabeth Stone, a respected academic, has a new lease on life. In remission from cancer, she returns to the city where she was a student over thirty years ago to investigate some little-known papers by T. S. Eliot, which she believes contain the seeds of her masterpiece; a masterpiece that centres on a poem given to her when she was eighteen by the elusive Professor Hunt... But as the days pass in the city she loves and her friendship with Professor Hunt is rekindled, her memories return her to a time shadowed by loneliness, longing and quiet despair, and to an undeclared but overwhelming love. Paralysed by the fear of writing something worthless, haunted by a sense of waste, Elizabeth Stone comes to realise she is facing the biggest test of her life. As in her acclaimed debut The Land of Decoration, Grace McCleen gives an intense evocation of place, an unflinching portrayal of a character by turns comic, absurd, and disturbing, and a powerful sense of the transcendent within the ordinary. Profound and hypnotic, The Professor of Poetry devastates even as it exhilarates and echoes long after it has been closed.

„W moim pokoju jest świat”, mówi Judyta McPherson, osierocona przez matkę 10-letnia narratorka powieści. „Zrobiony jest z rzeczy, których nikt nie chciał, i z rzeczy, które należały do mojej mamy, i które mi zostawiła”. Świat jest miniaturową repliką krainy mlekiem i miodem płynącej, w której nastanie po Armagedonie Judyta wierzy. Dziewczynka spędza w swoim pokoju całe dnie, ograniczona przez religijny fundamentalizm ojca, który zakazuje jej uczestniczyć w szkolnych imprezach i spędzać czas w niezbyt dobranym towarzystwie członków jej kościelnej grupy. Dla Judyty wszystko to mieści się w granicach normalności. Dopiero kiedy staje się celem ataków klasowego tyrana, nadciągający nieuchronnie Koniec zaczyna traktować osobiście i lękać się go naprawdę.

Świat Judyty

Todos os dias se parecem na vida que Judith McPherson leva ao lado do pai. Eles têm uma rotina simples e reclusa, numa casa repleta de lembranças da mãe que ela nunca conheceu, e as únicas pessoas com quem convivem são os fiéis da igreja cristã a que pertencem. Judith não tem amigos na escola, onde é alvo de gozações, e para encontrar consolo se refugia no mundo de sucata que construiu em seu quarto. Lá, cada dia é um dia, e a vida pode ser incrivelmente feliz graças a sua imaginação. Basta acreditar que a Terra Gloriosa, como ela chama sua maquete, é realmente o paraíso prometido onde um dia vai viver ao lado da mãe. Aos dez anos, Judith vê o mundo com os olhos da fé, e onde os outros veem mero lixo, ela identifica sinais divinos e uma possibilidade de criar. Assim, constrói bonecos de pano e inventa para eles histórias felizes na Terra Gloriosa. O que nem Judith poderia imaginar é que talvez seu brinquedo seja mais do que uma simples maquete. Pelo menos é o que parece quando ela cobre a Terra Gloriosa de espuma de barbear e a cidade aparece coberta de neve na manhã seguinte. Um pequeno milagre, é assim que ela interpreta esse e outros sinais parecidos. Tão pequeno que muitas pessoas poderiam pensar que não passa de coincidência, mas Judith sabe que milagres nem sempre são grandes, e que reconhecê-los é um dom de poucas pessoas. Longe de ser benéfico, no entanto, esse poder traz consigo uma grande responsabilidade. Afinal, seria certo usar a Terra Gloriosa para se vingar de Neil Lewis, o colega que a maltrata todos os dias na escola? Às vezes, nosso ato mais bem intencionado pode ter resultados desastrosos.

A menina que fazia nevar

«In principio c'era una stanza vuota, un po' di spazio, un po' di luce, un po' di tempo». Grace McCleen, Il posto dei miracoli *** In quella stanza Judith McPherson, dieci anni e la fantasia per riempire i vuoti, raccoglie quello che altri definirebbero rifiuti - erba secca, scatole di fiammiferi, vecchi lacci da scarpe - e ne fa preziosi mattoni per costruire un perfetto, confortevole mondo in miniatura. Perché il mondo, quello grande, perfetto non è: a casa un padre cupo e irreprensibile, tutto intorno una comunità religiosa per la quale la fantasia è peccato e la fine del mondo è sempre dietro l'angolo, e a scuola le minacce di un compagno violento. Come difendersi? Basterebbe un miracolo. Un po' di neve fuori stagione, magari. Una bella spolverata di zucchero, farina e cotone sul mondo in miniatura... ed è allora che per Judith cominciano i guai.

D.W. Wilson

The perfect alternative Valentine's gift Startlingly original stories S Magazine Together they assert that love is more heart-breaking and transforming that the word necessarily conveys. Observer Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love. 'Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda Fitzgerald This paperback edition of How Much the Heart Can Hold includes the winning short story from the SceptreLoves short story Prize.

Grace McCleen

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