Awards

• Short-listed for The Clare Maclean Prize for Scottish Fiction 2007
• Shortlisted for The Clare Maclean Prize for Scottish Fiction 2007.
• Winner of Costa Book of the Year 2007
• Winner of Costa Book of the Year 2007.
• Winner of Costa Novel Award 2007
• Winner of Costa Novel Award 2007.

Overview

Winner of the 2007 Costa Book Award Alfred Day wanted his war. In its turmoil he found his proper purpose as the tail-gunner in a Lancaster bomber; he found the wild, dark fellowship of his crew, and - most extraordinary of all - he found Joyce, a woman to love. But that's all gone now - the war took it away. Maybe it took him, too. Now in 1949, employed as an extra in a war film that echoes his real experience, Day begins to recall what he would rather forget...

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9780099494058

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Reviews

Kennedy is described in the literary press as not only one of our finest, but also one of our most humane, writers * Church Times * Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular, superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize pay particular attention to it -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday * Kennedy does bleak the way the Russians do epic; unremittingly, awesomely and undershot with redeeming humour -- Gillian Bowditch * Sunday Times * Once again, Kennedy brilliantly interweaves over-wrought internal dialogue with external outrageous acts. The unfolding tenderness of nature and of amity blend superbly with the casualness of daily horror -- Catherine Taylor * Independent on Sunday * Day is more than a novel, it is an investigations into the difficulties of being alive -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times * Day is a very good novel. It is largely about love, as most novels are, but the author's skill with language... makes the average cliché unique... Historical details become flesh and funny in her hand -- Katy Guest * Independent * AL Kennedy has built a reputation as one of the fiercest, most bloody minded and thrilling British writers and her new novel more than backs that up... Day is an utterly engrossing read * Metro * Day is a remarkable performance -- Jane Shilling * Sunday Telegraph * This is a remarkably clean lined book, of highly literary construction, that still feels huge and wide ranging. Day is a forceful, wholly achieved piece of work by a writer of enormous power. It ought to win all the prizes going -- Tim Martin * Daily Telegraph * Well deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Ms Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh * Economist *

Kennedy is described in the literary press as not only one of our finest, but also one of our most humane, writers Church Times Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular, superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize pay particular attention to it -- Stuart Kelly Scotland on Sunday Kennedy does bleak the way the Russians do epic; unremittingly, awesomely and undershot with redeeming humour -- Gillian Bowditch Sunday Times Once again, Kennedy brilliantly interweaves over-wrought internal dialogue with external outrageous acts. The unfolding tenderness of nature and of amity blend superbly with the casualness of daily horror -- Catherine Taylor Independent on Sunday Day is more than a novel, it is an investigations into the difficulties of being alive -- Eileen Battersby Irish Times

A stunning read Daily Mail Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular, superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize pay particular attention to it -- Stuart Kelly Scotland on Sunday Kennedy does bleak the way the Russians do epic; unremittingly, awesomely and undershot with redeeming humour -- Gillian Bowditch Sunday Times Once again, Kennedy brilliantly interweaves over-wrought internal dialogue with external outrageous acts. The unfolding tenderness of nature and of amity blend superbly with the casualness of daily horror -- Catherine Taylor Independent on Sunday Day is more than a novel, it is an investigations into the difficulties of being alive -- Eileen Battersby Irish Times

An imaginative tour de force that succeeds on every level, from its sparkling language to its narrative ingenuity to its devastating portrayal of wartime Europe. <br>-- San Diego Union-Tribune <br> Kennedy faultlessly captures the brusque camaraderie of the bomber crew, men from vastly different backgrounds knitted together by a love so profound it can never be put in words. <br>-- The Washington Post <br> [Kennedy] follows the examples of several of her contemporaries, including William Boyd and Sebastian Faulks, in writing about World War II, and in doing so makes that fertile territory very much her own. . . . Brilliant. <br>-- The Boston Globe <br> Remarkable. . . . Day is a novel of extraordinary complexity. <br>-- The New York Review of Books

Author Information

A. L. Kennedy has twice been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists and has won a host of other awards - including the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day. She lives in Essex.

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