The Stars Are Not Yet Bells

'An unusual, intense, experimental novel' Daily Mail

“A prophetic fever dream sprung from a singular imagination. Hannah Lillith Assadi is an incomparable stylist and a fearless storyteller. This novel is a lush, addicting, daring wonderA luminous and deeply moving portrait of the end of life and the persistence of desire. While Hannah Lillith Assadi's characters are forced to deny the truth of themselves and who they love, in her assured hands the extraordinary beauty of life and love and the natural world is never lost - JoAnne Tompkins, author of What Comes AfterA rich, mesmerizing novel, in which waves of overlapping memory erode the landscape of a woman's life until only feeling remains-both in the story and in the reader - Simon Van Booy, author of The Illusion of SeparatenessA lyrical and melancholic tale of grief, love, and a marriage's open secrets... The beauty of Assadi's prose and the splendid depiction of a love that transcends death make for a singular rendition of an oft-told story. This will leave readers undone - Publishers WeeklyA haunting elegy for loss, desire, and memory - Kirkus ReviewsPoignant . . . a testament to love and loss - Washington PostElegiac with slightly gothic undertones - Sydney Morning HeraldA heartbreaking and profoundly visionary book. Hannah Assadi movingly renders the kaleidoscopic nature of memory-revealing not only one woman's disordered heart and mind, but the way our consciousness recombines shards of memory to create a glittering, prismatic view of a life. I wanted to stay in Assadi's shimmering sentences for as long as I could. - Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves”

A heartbreaking and profoundly visionary book. Hannah Assadi movingly renders the kaleidoscopic nature of memory-revealing not only one woman's disordered heart and mind, but the way our consciousness recombines shards of memory to create a glittering, prismatic view of a life. I wanted to stay in Assadi's shimmering sentences for as long as I could. Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves
Assadi captivates the senses, compelling readers to pause and reflect as they progress through the story. Highly recommended for those who enjoy lyrical fiction that explores women's inner lives. Booklist
Enchanted and haunting narration The Millions
A story of love and loss Harper's Bazaar (US)
A darkly romantic story Choice Magazine
The poetic beauty of the writing and a certain swirling Gothic passion and drama bowl the reader along... An unusual, intense, experimental novel Daily Mail
Sharp and impressionistic sentences . . . an exhilarating reading experience NPR
Elegiac with slightly gothic undertones Sydney Morning Herald
Poignant . . . a testament to love and loss Washington Post
A luminous and deeply moving portrait of the end of life and the persistence of desire. While Hannah Lillith Assadi's characters are forced to deny the truth of themselves and who they love, in her assured hands the extraordinary beauty of life and love and the natural world is never lost -- JoAnne Tompkins, author of What Comes After
A prophetic fever dream sprung from a singular imagination. Hannah Lillith Assadi is an incomparable stylist and a fearless storyteller. This novel is a lush, addicting, daring wonder -- Claire Vaye Watkins, author of I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
A rich, mesmerizing novel, in which waves of overlapping memory erode the landscape of a woman's life until only feeling remains-both in the story and in the reader -- Simon Van Booy, author of The Illusion of Separateness

Hannah Lillith Assadi received her MFA in fiction from the Columbia University School of the Arts. She was raised in Arizona by her Jewish mother and Palestinian father. She lives in Brooklyn. A 5 Under 35 National Book Award Honoree, her first novel, Sonora (Soho 2017) received the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction.

'An unusual, intense, experimental novel' Daily Mail In the aftermath of the Great Depression, Elle Ranier marries Simon to escape a life of destitution. She leaves New York City for Lyra, a remote, wooded island off the south-eastern coast of America. There, amid rumours of strange jewels hidden beneath the water, Elle harbours a secret: her guest, Gabriel, is not a cousin but her lover.Their time together is brief, but throughout her long marriage to Simon, Elle never forgets Gabriel. Half a century later, as the mists of dementia creep in, she is still haunted by his fate. Poignant and poetic, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells is a mesmerising exploration of the limits of memory, and the people we can never forget. 'Poignant . . . a testament to love and loss' Washington Post

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.