DURHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2000

 

CHARLES FERNYHOUGH

Charles Fernyhough is a talented new novelist with a distinctive style and deep intelligence. Born in Essex in 1968, he studied developmental psychology at Cambridge University and wrote a doctoral thesis on why children talk to themselves. Charles now lives in Durham. He has had stories and poetry published in anthologies. The Auctioeer is his first novel.

What happens to the chemical generation as they look back at their drug-fuelled days with a mixture of nostalgia and dread? What happens to travellers when they come home, their adventure of a lifetime is over, and real life has to begin again? What happens when society suddenly falls victim to a mysterious brain disorder known as ‘Bliss’,characterised by euphoric forgetfulness (a disease with which parallels can be drawn to BSE, ME and AIDS)?

Auctioneer Finn Causley is looking for answers to all these questions, while he catalogues objects in preparation for an auction, objects that once had human meaning but now lie forgotten, the remnants of lives gone awry, objects that will ultimately prove to be keys to the truth.

Structured an auction catalogue, using objects as the springboard for each chapter, The Auctioneer is both a psychological thriller and a love story, written with deep historical feeling for the English landscape as well as a highly contemporary sense of irony.

 

‘This is an extremely impressive first novel … a new writer so ambitious and thoughtful that you can’t help but look forward to what will come next.’

The Observer

 

‘This big, anxious book surely marks the debut of a considerable talent.’

The Daily Telegraph

 

‘Rich in beguiling detail, incidents and characters…. an unusually ambitious debut.’

Times Literary Supplement