A Song for Issy Bradley

Sometimes however much you love someone, you can't understand them.      Ian used to think that his life had been disappointingly easy, compared to the pioneers. He had a happy marriage, four children, a satisfactory job and, for just over a year, he has served the church in his role as Bishop of the local congregation, an enormous responsibility.     And then Issy died.      Now his wife, Claire, won't get out of their dead daughter's bottom bunk and she won't speak. Claire doesn't want a blessing or a sympathy card and she's got nothing to say to the Lord. She just wants to be left alone to be sad.      Ian doesn't know what to do to make things better. Zippy and Alma are trying to combine living with grieving and being Mormons with being teenagers. Only seven-year-old Jacob has a plan. He knows that his faith is bigger than a mustard seed; it's at least as big as a toffee bonbon, maybe bigger. It's clear that if he wants Issy back, it's up to him to perform a resurrection miracle.     Incredibly moving, unexpectedly funny and so sharply observed it will make you feel as if you could pick the woodchip off the bedroom wall, A Song for Issy Bradley is about doubt and faith. But most of all it's about a family trying to work out how to carry on when their world has been blown apart.

Literature & Fiction

Bray, Carys

Literary

Hutchinson

Clover Quinn was a surprise. She used to imagine she was the good kind, now she’s not sure. She’d like to ask Dad about it, but growing up in the saddest chapter of someone else’s story is difficult. She tries not to skate on the thin ice of his memories. 
Darren has done his best. He's studied his daughter like a seismologist on the lookout for waves and surrounded her with everything she might want - everything he can think of, at least - to be happy.
What Clover wants is answers. This summer, she thinks she can find them in the second bedroom, which is full of her mother's belongings. Volume isn't important, what she is looking for is essence; the undiluted bits: a collection of things that will tell the full story of her mother, her father and who she is going to be. 
But what you find depends on what you're searching for.

The Museum of You

Parenting & Relationships

Windmill Books

They say there's no place like home. It's where the heart is...
Meet the little boy who believes in miracles.
Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket.
Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife.
Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst standing at the kitchen sink.
In this prize-winning short story collection, Carys Bray weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through seventeen very different notions of home.

Sweet Home

Genre Fiction

RANDOM HOUSE UK

This is the story of what happens when Issy Bradley dies. It is the story of Ian -- husband, father, maths teacher and Mormon bishop -- and his unshakeable belief that everything will turn out all right if he can only endure to the end, like the pioneers did. It is the story of his wife Claire's lonely wait for a sign from God and her desperate need for life to pause while she comes to terms with what's happened. It is the story of the agony and hope of Zippy Bradley's first love. The story of Alma Bradley's cynicism and reluctant bravery. And it is the story of seven-year-old Jacob. His faith is bigger than a mustard seed, probably bigger than a toffee bonbon and he's planning to use it to mend his broken family with a miracle. Incredibly moving, unexpectedly funny and so sharply observed it will make you feel as if you could pick the woodchip off the bedroom wall. A Song for Issy Bradley explores the outer reaches of doubt and faith. But mostly it's a story about a family trying to work out how to carry on when their world has fallen apart.

WINDMILL

A mesmerizing literary debut novel of doubt, faith, and perseverance in the aftermath of a family tragedy—for fans of Me Before You, Little Bee, and Tell the Wolves I’m Home. The Bradleys see the world as a place where miracles are possible, and where nothing is more important than family. This is their story. It is the story of Ian Bradley—husband, father, math teacher, and Mormon bishop—and his unshakeable belief that everything will turn out all right if he can only endure to the end, like the pioneers did. It is the story of his wife, Claire, her lonely wait for a sign from God, and her desperate need for life to pause while she comes to terms with tragedy. And it is the story of their children: sixteen-year-old Zippy, experiencing the throes of first love; cynical fourteen-year-old Al, who would rather play soccer than read the Book of Mormon; and seven-year-old Jacob, whose faith is bigger than a mustard seed—probably bigger than a toffee candy, he thinks—and which he’s planning to use to mend his broken family with a miracle. Intensely moving, unexpectedly funny, and deeply observed, A Song for Issy Bradley explores the outer reaches of doubt and faith, and of a family trying to figure out how to carry on when the innermost workings of their world have broken apart. Praise for A Song for Issy Bradley “I loved A Song for Issy Bradley. It’s wry, smart . . . moving and comforting. . . . A terrific book [about] faith, and what happens to that faith when the unimaginable happens.”—Nick Hornby, The Believer “The Book of Mormon with an English accent.”—New York Post “Bray fully inhabits each of her characters, displaying an admirable range of narrative talent rare in a first novel. Fans of The Lonely Polygamist and Where’d You Go, Bernadette will savor this thrilling glimpse behind the scenes of a family in crisis.”—Booklist (starred review) “With wit and compassion, plus insider knowledge of the Mormon way of life, Bray exposes the raw emotions of a family in crisis. An intriguing and heartbreaking story from an author to watch.”—Library Journal “An absorbing, beautifully written debut novel with surprising moments of humor.”—Kirkus Reviews “In this wry, original, generous-spirited debut novel, members of a family come to terms with grief, each in his or her own way. They wrestle with belief and disillusionment, desire and hopelessness, pervasive sorrow and moments of transcendent joy. The result is riveting, powerful, and quietly devastating. Quite simply, A Song for Issy Bradley took my breath away.”—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train “A Song for Issy Bradley is that rarest of things—a book that is beautiful, tender, and a page-turner. Carys Bray made me fall hopelessly in love with each and every one of the Bradleys.”—Carol Rifka Brunt, New York Times bestselling author of Tell the Wolves I’m Home “I cannot remember the last time I have felt so emotionally invested in a novel. It is brilliant and profoundly moving, utterly compelling and almost unbearably real.”—Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall

A Song for Issy Bradley: A Novel

United States

Ballantine Books

'No one has measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda Fitzgerald
Love is not a singular concept. 
In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. 
Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love.

How Much the Heart Can Hold: Seven Stories on Love

SHUKLA, NIKESH

Ryan, Donal

Evaristo, Bernardine

Buchanan, Rowan Hisayo

McCleen, Grace

Wilson, D.W.

Sceptre

'Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda FitzgeraldLove is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love. This paperback edition of How Much the Heart Can Hold includes the winning short story from the SceptreLoves short story Prize.

Short Stories & Anthologies

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Books by Bray, Carys

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bray, Carys. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Song for Issy Bradley

A Song for Issy Bradley

The Museum of You

The Museum of You

The Museum of You

Sweet Home

A Song for Issy Bradley

A Song for Issy Bradley: A Novel

How Much the Heart Can Hold: Seven Stories on Love

How Much the Heart Can Hold: Seven Stories on Love