Parallel Lines

I love Edward St Aubyn -- DONNA TARTT Perhaps the most brilliant English novelist of his generation -- ALAN HOLLINGHURST A compassionate book… St Aubyn can express things you always knew but had never had the words for * The Times * St Aubyn’s writing is as astute as ever. A coincidence-driven comedy of errors… Glinting with hard-won wisdom lightly worn * Observer * The Patrick Melrose author brings his trademark dark wit and flinty compassion to this wide-ranging sequel… St Aubyn is clear-sighted and humane on the basic requirement of life: ‘Compassion is just love in the face of suffering and love does not run out with use – it grows stronger’ * Guardian * It is a novel rich in characters and perspectives… The story whips along… All the while, Parallel Lines is building towards a showdown that threatens to break its characters and their values. It doesn’t disappoint * Evening Standard * A state-of-the-nation novel that brilliantly uses the conventions of farce, satire and social critique to evoke a nation drifting indifferently into chaos… St Aubyn’s portrait of the family and its sharp-edged sketches of various institutions of British life are often very, very funny and always penetrating; but they are also at times moving, especially when they relate to mental health… [Parallel Lines] has formal verve and political vitality -- Orwell Prize for Political Fiction Judges, 2025 St Aubyn remains a terrific writer… [Parallel Lines] is genuinely affecting * i * A tale of analysis, art and family dysfunction… In a novel brimming with wordplay, Sebastian’s eagerness to make meaningful connections is affecting * Financial Times * Parallel Lines is entertaining, tidily put together and…sparklingly well written * Literary Review *