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The Little Book

Selden Edwards

5 Reviews

Rated 0

Fiction, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

An irresistible time-travelling story about a displaced 20th-century man who finds himself in Vienna in the 1890s - it's a wonderful look at fathers and sons, as well as a cracking love story.

She was loved by three men. Two were history.

Wheeler Burden is the last heir of the famous Boston banking Burdens; he lives in San Francisco and is a philosopher, rock idol, writer, lover of women, and recluse. So it s with some surprise that he wakes up many years earlier, in Vienna, where he s now older than his father (a WW2 hero), and much older than his grandfather (a man of uncertain temper).

When Wheeler meets the delectable Weezie, things quickly start to get complicated - as she holds the key to a crucial secret, one she s completely oblivious to . . .

And soon Wheeler realizes he must unravel a lifetime of memories before he can discover who he really is or what s gone on.

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Praise for The Little Book

  • The novel has an epic feel and a great, jostling bran tub of voices and perspectives. Edwards began working on it in 1974 and completed it last year, giving it that feel of something crafted, burnished and polished over time. The pleasure of it is in the tantalising question that lies at the heart of much time-travel fiction: if you could, would you change history, political and personal? The passion and warmth of 33 years hard work are ultimately winning. Like Niffenegger s novel, The Little Book could become a film. If it doesn t, it can take a respectable place alongside H.G. Wells - Tim Teeman, THE TIMES

  • ** 'Edwards has great fun with time travel paradoxes and anachronisms, but the real romance in the book is with the period ... This novel ends up a sweet, wistful elegy to the fantastic promise and failed hopes of the 20th century' - Publishers Weekly

  • ** Intricate, inventive and captivatingly written... a charming and provocative read Kerry Fowler, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, Book of the Month - Good Housekeeping

  • ** Edward s debut, which took 35 years to write, is a queasy mix of fin de siecle history and an across-the-centuries love story. Bonkers. - Eithne Farry, MARIE CLAIRE

  • ** An enjoyable ode to the doomed idealism of the early 20th Century. He meets Sigmund Freud, mark Twain, Gustav Mahler and an either-year-old Adolf Hitler - and the reason for this time bending plot is revealed - Melissa McClements, FINANCIAL TIMES

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Selden Edwards

Selden Edwards is a retired English teacher and headmaster. He began The Little Book in 1975 and finished writing it in 2008.

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