Damascus: A Novel

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Arcade Publishing, 1999 - Fiction - 310 pages
Pick a day, any day try November 1, 1993. It's the first day of the European Union; the day after River Phoenix and Federico Fellini died. A day of interesting but not earth-shattering headlines that will affect various people living in the world behind these headlines in different ways: . Spencer and Hazel have (almost) made up their minds to create a beautiful love story all their own. They have virtually decided, after one night of glorious passion, that today is the day to answer the questions: Is this the first day of the rest of their lives together? Are they destined to find happiness in each other? William Welsby is convinced the creation of the new Europe is the end of his beloved England. He decides to remain inside his tiny gardenshed fortress, protected from the real world. Henry Mitsui - an apparently homicidal Japanese student stalking Hazel - is on a mission. Henry has just one day left of his two-year stay in Britain and he intends to make the most of his dwindling hours by embarking on a single-minded search for true love. He'll try anything, whatever mayhem may result. On this one day, all of Beard's characters are looking, waiting, and hoping: looking for the signs; waiting for the life-changing thunderbo
 

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Contents

Section 1
6
Section 2
10
Section 3
14
Section 4
33
Section 5
42
Section 6
66
Section 7
73
Section 8
85
Section 13
169
Section 14
193
Section 15
198
Section 16
203
Section 17
224
Section 18
229
Section 19
244
Section 20
248

Section 9
96
Section 10
134
Section 11
140
Section 12
152
Section 21
253
Section 22
287
Section 23
305
Copyright

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About the author (1999)

Richard Beard is the author of five critically acclaimed novels: X20, Damascus, The Cartoonist, Dry Bones, and Lazarus Is Dead, and three works of non-fiction: Muddied Oafs, How To Beat the Australians and Becoming Drusilla. He is Director of the National Academy of Writing in London. He also made the shortlist for the Goldsmiths Prize 2015 with his title Acts of the Assassins. His book, The Day That Went Missing (Vintage), has been awarded the 2018 PEN/Ackerley Prize for a work of memoir or autobiography.

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