Daniel Ben-Horin in The Huffington Post yesterday questioned the whereabouts and activity of thrice Booker nominated Timothy Mo, most famous for Sour Sweet, and author of Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard and Renegade or Halo2. Despite his worry that Mo’s disappearance might be permanent, we can reveal that he has in fact been working on his forthcoming novel PURE, which will be published under the Turnaround Books imprint on 12 April 2012. Indeed, Mo has been in touch with the British press to reassure them of his continued existence.
Pure (Turnaround Books, 2012)
Timothy Mo’s first novel for more than a decade is set in Southern Thailand. Here Islam holds contested sway, with hazardous but highly personal links to islands of resistance elsewhere. This story of a would-be Caliphate criss-crosses frontiers that are both ideological and physical. Through its wide-ranging cast, whether young or old, deeply dissolute or uncompromisingly austere, fanatically zealous or imperturbably urbane, Mo shows how the cultural wars of today and the clashing traditions of the past play out into the unforeseen conclusions of tomorrow.
Profound insight into those tormented by dual loyalties, elegance and versatility of style, ingenuity of construction and the ability to handle the weightiest of themes with a light touch, all the hallmarks of this author’s work can be found here – as can the humour that delighted readers of the early novels. In his divergent characters Mo offers a variegated but cohesive mosaic of both modern Asia and the wider world.
Have a look at our rundown of his excellent back catalogue published under the Paddleless Press imprint and now available from Turnaround:
Sour Sweet (Paddleless Press, 1999)
Timothy Mo’s classic account of feuding Chinese families in sixties London quickly became a best-seller when it was first published and has since won its place among the novels of the time. Filmed by Mike Newell with a screenplay by Ian McEwan, it now appears on the Paddleless list. Sour Sweet was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1982.
The Monkey King (Paddleless Press, 2000)
A new Paddleless Press edition of Timothy Mo’s classic novel. Set primarily in Hong Kong, it tells the story of the relationship between a Cantonese family, the Poons, and Wallace Nolasco, a young man of Portuguese descent, who marries into the family only to find that they are not as wealthy as local gossip had given him to believe.
The Redundancy of Courage (Paddleless Press, 2002)
Winner of the E.M. Forster Award and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this brutal and beautiful narration of the guerrilla war against the Indonesians in Timor, was praised by Fretilin Foreign Minister and Nobel prize-winner Jose Ramos-Horta for its “perfect authenticity”.
“‘Magnificent.” – The Spectator
“A marvellous tour de force.” – Evening Standard
“A brilliant novel, written with precision and tenderness.”
– The Guardian
An Insular Possession (Paddleless Press, 2002)
A hardback best-seller that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize this literary masterpiece documents the first Anglo-Chinese Opium War through the eyes of two young Americans on the China Coast in the 1830s.
“A marvellous, monumental achievement, highly intelligent, witty and having the gravitas of true historical insight… A first-class historical novel of tremendous sweep.” – The Spectator
“Astute and unremitting.” – The Glasgow Herald
“Powerful, beautifully written.” – The Guardian
Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard (Paddleless Press, 1997)
A political comedy set in the Philippines with a character list of grasping politicians, tooled-up goons, venal hacks, even more venal writers and the glorious pariah Professor Pfeidwengeler, whose perversion of choice sets the metaphorical subtext of the novel. (The Independent, 1995)
“Fiercely truthful, intensely funny. The novel brilliantly continues Mo’s fictional enterprise.” – Peter Kemp, Sunday Times
“Timothy Mo really is a brilliant writer.”
– Peter Bradshaw, London Evening Standard
“Near perfect…bristling with humour and narrative purpose…an absorbing amalgam of the personal and the political. Buy it if you can.” – D J Taylor, The Spectator
Renegade, or Halo2 (Paddleless Press, 2000)
Rey Castro belongs to a small but distinctive tribe: he is a black Amerasian. Born in destitution in the Philippines near a US base, he is fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of an eccentric Jesuit. Like the native dessert Halo2 (pronounced hallow-hallow), life is a colourful mixture for Rey. However he is pushed off the edge of his world when he is made the scapegoat of a crime he didn’t commit and is forced into semi slavery overseas. Adventure piles on adventure in traditional style. Winner of the 1999 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
“A writer of immense gifts, energy and wit. Nothing is off limits, he respects no borders. His style is tough and elegant in equal measure and exercises considerable force.” – The Times
“Almost alone among that band of young English novelists who made their names in the 1980s he continues to produce hugely entertaining and serious novels that look as if they were based on practical experience.” – D J Taylor, The Spectator
Biography
Born in 1950, Timothy Mo has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his last novel Renegade or Halo2. He has written six previous novels which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Hawthornden Prize, and the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
For more press information about PURE, please contact alexandra@turnaround-uk.com
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