I nominate
Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod.
Quote:
Roushana Maitland has known great fame and great sorrow throughout her long life. As a world-renowned musician, she was the queen of the Paris bohemians even as nuclear war raged elsewhere around the globe. She lost a beloved brother in a terrorist-created biological nightmare. She sometimes relished, sometimes endured her marriage to a brilliant and unpredictable conductor. Now, she lives out her days on the rugged Cornish coast, remembering past glories and heartbreaks. She struggles with the decision to let her life slip away, or choose a virtual existence for eternity, as so many of her friends and acquaintances have already done.
Then, one day, she discovers a naked young man who has washed up on the beach. She brings him home, dresses him in her husband’s clothes, and calls him “Adam.” As this strange arrival convalesces, Roushana shares her stories and her secrets, recounting the personal landmarks in a remarkable life lived in a world gone mad, even as his own past remains a mystery.
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300 pages
Here are some example links/prices:
Amazon US - USD$4.61 |
Amazon UK - £3.99 |
Amazon CA - CDN$5.99 |
Amazon AU - AUD$5.99 |
Kobo US - USD$4.99 |
Kobo UK - £3.99 |
Kobo CA - CAD$5.99 |
Kobo AU AUD$5.99 |
Kobo NZ NZD$8.32
Also see
Goodreads.
This is science-fiction, although on an Amazon review I saw someone describe it as "literary science fiction" (which is perhaps a way to turn off everyone
). But I adored this when I first read it just 6 months ago. What I consider to be the science-fiction part of the story came as no surprise, while the human part was both shocking and yet unsurprising - it made perfect sense and I really like that in a story.
The ebook from JABberwocky Literary Agency has a few proof-reading errors, which was a bit distracting, but they are not too bad.