Whispers Through a Megaphone (26 page)

I would like to thank the characters behind this novel, for so many different things, past and present, now and then. For shaping and influencing this story. For supporting me in various ways leading up to this moment. For the hope, encouragement and humour. For being here when you were there. For taking this novel out into the world and accompanying me as I go with it.

My deepest gratitude to Gaia Banks, Elena Lappin, Adam Freudenheim, the team at Pushkin Press and Katherine Stroud, Mum and Dad, Chris, Doris Elliott (1910–1980), Noreen, Nadine, Siân, Esther, Henry (sadly you cannot read, but for sitting beside me while I wrote every word, and scampering ahead of me while I solved every puzzle, I will thank you in walks and fishy flapjacks) and Jacquie (for all your insight and generosity, I thank you).

ONE, an imprint of Pushkin Press, publishes one exceptional fiction or non-fiction debut a season. Its list is commissioned and edited by the writer and editor Elena Lappin, who selects the best writing by authors whose extraordinary voices, talent and vision deserve a wide readership and media focus.

THREE GRAVES FULL

Jamie Mason

“Incredibly entertaining and suspenseful… brilliant”
The Times

A SENSE OF DIRECTION
PILGRIMAGE FOR THE RESTLESS AND THE HOPEFUL

Gideon Lewis-Kraus

“A winning blend of earnestness, wit and high-octane intellect”
Observer

A REPLACEMENT LIFE

Boris Fishman

“Piercing, witty and enviably well written”
New Statesman

THE FISHERMEN

Chigozie Obioma

“Awesome in the true sense of the word… a magnificent debut” Eleanor Catton, Man Booker Prize-winning author of
The Luminaries

WHISPERS THROUGH A MEGAPHONE

Rachel Elliott

“In an over-connected world, a crisp, beguiling voice observes chaos – and conjures miracles. Elliott is an inspired observer – fresh, wry and true” Liz Jensen

Forthcoming in 2016

THE MINOR OUTSIDER

Ted McDermott

DON’T LET MY BABY DO RODEO

Boris Fishman

www.pushkinpress.com/one

Pushkin Press was founded in 1997, and publishes novels, essays, memoirs, children’s books—everything from timeless classics to the urgent and contemporary.

Our books represent exciting, high-quality writing from around the world: we publish some of the twentieth century’s most widely acclaimed, brilliant authors such as Stefan Zweig, Marcel Aymé, Antal Szerb, Paul Morand and Yasushi Inoue, as well as compelling and award-winning contemporary writers, including Andrés Neuman, Edith Pearlman and Ryu Murakami.

Pushkin Press publishes the world’s best stories, to be read and read again. Here are just some of the titles from our long and varied list. For more amazing stories, visit
www.pushkinpress.com
.

THE SPECTRE OF ALEXANDER WOLF

GAITO GAZDANOV

‘A mesmerising work of literature’ Antony Beevor

BINOCULAR VISION

EDITH PEARLMAN

‘A genius of the short story’ Mark Lawson,
Guardian

TRAVELLER OF THE CENTURY

ANDRÉS NEUMAN

‘A beautiful, accomplished novel: as ambitious as it is generous, as moving as it is smart’ Juan Gabriel Vásquez,
Guardian

BEWARE OF PITY

STEFAN ZWEIG

‘Zweig’s fictional masterpiece’
Guardian

THE WORLD OF YESTERDAY

STEFAN ZWEIG

‘
The World of Yesterday
is one of the greatest memoirs of the twentieth century, as perfect in its evocation of the world Zweig loved, as it is in its portrayal of how that world was destroyed’ David Hare

JOURNEY BY MOONLIGHT

ANTAL SZERB

‘Just divine… makes you imagine the author has had private access to your own soul’ Nicholas Lezard,
Guardian

BONITA AVENUE

PETER BUWALDA

‘One wild ride: a swirling helix of a family saga… a new writer as toe-curling as early Roth, as roomy as Franzen and as caustic as Houellebecq’
Sunday Telegraph

THE PARROTS

FILIPPO BOLOGNA

‘A five-star satire on literary vanity… a wonderful, surprising novel’
Metro

I WAS JACK MORTIMER

ALEXANDER LERNET-HOLENIA

‘Terrific… a truly clever, rather wonderful book that both plays with and defies genre’ Eileen Battersby,
Irish Times

SONG FOR AN APPROACHING STORM

PETER FRÖBERG IDLING

‘Beautifully evocative… a must-read novel’
Daily Mail

THE RABBIT BACK LITERATURE SOCIETY

PASI ILMARI JÄÄSKELÄINEN

‘Wonderfully knotty… a very grown-up fantasy masquerading as quirky fable. Unexpected, thrilling and absurd’
Sunday Telegraph

RED LOVE: THE STORY OF AN EAST GERMAN FAMILY

MAXIM LEO

‘Beautiful and supremely touching… an unbearably poignant description of a world that no longer exists’
Sunday Telegraph

THE BREAK

PIETRO GROSSI

‘Small and perfectly formed… reaching its end leaves the reader desirous to start all over again’
Independent

FROM THE FATHERLAND, WITH LOVE

RYU MURAKAMI

‘If Haruki is
The Beatles
of Japanese literature, Ryu is its
Rolling Stones
’ David Pilling

BUTTERFLIES IN NOVEMBER

AUÐUR AVA ÓLAFSDÓTTIR

‘A funny, moving and occasionally bizarre exploration of life’s upheavals and reversals’
Financial Times

BARCELONA SHADOWS

MARC PASTOR

‘As gruesome as it is gripping… the writing is extraordinarily vivid… Highly recommended’
Independent

THE LAST DAYS

LAURENT SEKSIK

‘Mesmerising… Seksik’s portrait of Zweig’s final months is dignified and tender’
Financial Times

BY BLOOD

ELLEN ULLMAN

‘Delicious and intriguing’
Daily Telegraph

WHILE THE GODS WERE SLEEPING

ERWIN MORTIER

‘A monumental, phenomenal book’
De Morgen

THE BRETHREN

ROBERT MERLE

‘A master of the historical novel’
Guardian