Artful

A playful, form-bending novel from the Booker Prize-shortlisted, Womens Prize-winning author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet

Playful and audaciousIndependent

Narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, Artful slips slyly between fiction and essay, guiding the reader thrillingly through a sequence of ideas on art and literature. With Smiths trademark humour, inventiveness, poignancy and critical insight, this is unique experiment in form, style, life, love, death, immortality and what art can mean.

Based on four electrifying lectures given by the author at Oxford University, and exploring the explosive connections between art, story, memory and grief - Artful is a tidal wave of ideas to blast away the cobwebs and change how you see the world.

*****

Artful is a revelation; a new kind of book altogether . . . makes you glad to be aliveJackie Kay

Powerful and movingLondon Review of Books

Blending of criticism and fiction, Artful belongs in a genre of its own . . . Joyful for anyone interested in the art of writing, and living, wellAnita Sethi, New Statesman