Deafening (51 page)
“A moving and memorable first novel…Frances Itani is an artist who understands what to include and what to leave out, when to whisper and when to shout…Utterly absorbing.”
—
Newsday
“
Deafening
is a tribute to Frances Itani’s storytelling skills, an affecting and evocative look at those who inhabited a soundless world during the early years of the last century.”
—Richard B. Wright
“This book is a meditation on silence and communication…In a world filled with sound, Grania’s story is a stirring reminder that human engagement occurs on various levels.”
—
Literary Review
(UK)
“[A] sensitive and powerful first novel…Like other gifted writers in the best tradition of once upon a time, Itani has the power not only to make us see and hear, but to believe.”
—
The Hamilton Spectator
“There are scenes in
Deafening
which will never be forgotten. From the haunting effects of a childhood disease to the random horrors of war, the uncertainties that become our certainties have seldom been so well explored.”
—Alistair MacLeod
“Admirably understated, touching and restrained.”
—
People
“Like [Pat] Barker, Canadian author Itani does not shy away from war’s unflattering profile at the same time that she eagerly exploits for her own literary purposes the raw power and complexity of life on the battlefield and on the home front…The Great War is quite simply an awesome presence in the novel…Itani has written a moving first novel that expresses in human terms the healing power of language and the unspeakable horrors of war.”
—
The Boston Globe
“It’s more than a carefully crafted journey into the realm of the deaf—it’s a letter of love.”
—
Chatelaine
“Studded with haunting perceptions of soundlessness.”
—
Independent
(UK)
“Itani’s [
Deafening
] unfolds with slow, deliberate eloquence and brilliantly described sights and sounds.”
—
Booklist
“
Deafening
…is rich in every way. With exquisite crafting, Itani gives Grania a haunting subtle voice with which to tell her story…It is a story for all time.”
—
The Sunday Oregonian
“A psychologically rich, deeply atmospheric and exquisitely told story.”
—
Woman & Home
(UK)
“[
Deafening
] is not only a beautifully crafted love story but also an exploration of the possibilities of language and the eloquence of silence. Itani has done her research well…An intelligent, absorbing read. Highly recommended.”
—
Library Journal
“War and deafness are the twin themes in the psychologically rich, impeccably crafted debut novel set during WWI. [Itani’s] wonderfully felt first novel is a timely reminder of war’s cost, told from an unexpected perspective.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Itani’s lean, absorbing prose recreates the different kinds of cocoons enfolding her characters…This mesmerizing and quietly remarkable novel captures a young couple bound by a private language of fingers on lips and thoughts unvoiced and unutterable across the rift of the sea.”
—
Time Out
“Several profound themes—including the curative power of language, the endurance of faith, and the vital role of storytelling in life, love, and war—are expertly enmeshed in this imaginatively crafted tale.”
—
Elle
“Like Charles Frazier in his massively popular
Cold Mountain
, Itani possesses a graceful command of illuminating detail and epic sensibility…Itani may be attempting grand statements about the cacophonous death machinery of war, but what she really accomplishes is a simple story of a gentle soul struggling to accommodate to the hearing world.”
—
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Deafening
© 2003 by Frances Itani.
© 2004 by Itani Writes Inc.
A Phyllis Bruce Book, published by
Harper
Perennial
Canada, an imprint
of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Front leaf photograph © Hulton-Deutsch
Collection/CORBIS/MAGMA
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
First published in hardcover by Harper-
Flamingo
Canada and Phyllis Bruce Books, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2003. Large print edition 2003. This paperback edition 2004.
HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use through our Special Markets Department.
www.harpercollins.ca
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in
Publication
Itani, Frances, 1942-
Deafening : a novel / by Frances Itani.
“A Phyllis Bruce book”.
I. Title.
PS8567.T35D43 2004A C813’.54
C2004-902074-9
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EPub Edition © JUNE 2010 ISBN: 978-1-443-40250-7
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