Alva and Irva are indentical twin sisters who live in the city of Entralla. Along with Gondal, Brobdingnag and the Emerald City, Entralla is not a place you are likely to have visited; only one guidebook to the place exists, despite its historic landmarks and the considerable civic pride of its inhabitants.Alva, by nature an explorer, longs to travel the world. Irva is a recluse, for whom a step outside the house is an ordeal. But the twins belong together; they cannot survive without each other. Since childhood, they have built fantastical cities of plasticine in an attempt to find a place for themselves in the world -- real or imaginary. But it is only when Irva finally refuses to leave the house at all that the major work of their lives begins. Alva, in an attempt to return Irva to life, brings the city of Entralla into their shared home; she wanders its streets, observing, taking notes, measuring, and reporting her findings to Irva, who painstakingly constructs a miniature Entralla.

Alva and Irva [Paperback]

Literature & Fiction

Edward Carey

Genre Fiction

PICADOR (MACM)

Alva And Irva

Random House of Canada Ltd.

A new fantasy trilogy that blends fine literary fare with a terrific romp through the reimagined outskirts of Victorian-era LondonThe extensive Iremonger family of Filching (“kings of mildew, moguls of mould”) has made a fortune from junk, building a dark and sprawling mansion from salvage scrap. Heap House is surrounded by the dangerous, noxious, shifting Heaps that stretch beyond its bounds, while within its walls, certain objects begin to display strange signs of life.Young Clod Iremonger is on the cusp of being “trousered” and betrothed (unhappily) to his cousin Pinalippy when he meets the plucky orphan servant Lucy Pennant, with whose help he begins to uncover the dark secrets of his family’s empire. Mystery, romance and the perils of the Heaps await!Gorgeously and ghoulishly illustrated by the author, the novel is peopled with unforgettable characters—anxious, animal-loving Tummis with his pet seagull, menacing cousin Moorcus, dreadful Aunt Rosamud and more. As Carey writes, “Every life is thick with rubbish, but the Iremongers did it with a difference . . .”

Heap House (Iremonger Trilogy)

Hot Key

Heap House: The Iremonger Trilogy 1

Hot Key Books

Foulsham (Iremonger Trilogy)

Lungdon (Iremonger Trilogy)

Little

Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2019 Longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2019 Longlisted for The Rathbones Folio Prize 2019 ‘A startlingly original novel’ — Times, BOOK OF THE YEARThere is a space between life and death: it’s called waxworks Born in Alsace in 1761, the unsightly, diminutive Marie Grosholtz is quickly nicknamed “Little”. Orphaned at the age of six, she finds employment in the household of reclusive anatomist, Dr Curtius. Her role soon surpasses that of mere servant as the eccentric doctor takes an interest in his newfound companion and begins to instruct her in the fine art of wax modelling.  From the gutters of pre-revolutionary France to the luxury of the Palace of Versailles, from clutching the still-warm heads of Robespierre’s Terror to finding something very like love, Little traces the improbable fortunes of a bloodstained crumb of a thing who went on to shape the world... * 'Don't miss this eccentric charmer' @MargaretAtwood 'Absolutely brilliant' Susan Hill ‘Rich and engrossing, there is an extraordinary potency to Carey’s material ... A visceral, vivid and moving novel’ GUARDIAN 'In this gloriously gruesome imagining of the girlhood of Marie Tussaud, mistress of wax, fleas will bite, rats will run and heads will roll and roll and roll. Guts’n’gore galore: I bloody loved it' SPECTATOR  'A tale as moving as it is macabre' MAIL ON SUNDAY  'One of the most original historical novels of the year... Macabre, funny, touching and oddly life-affirming, Little is a remarkable achievement' SUNDAY TIMES  'Beautifully published… poignant… absorbing’ LITERARY REVIEW 'Clever and intriguing' DAILY MAIL ‘Marie’s story is fascinating in itself, but Carey’s talent makes her journey a thing of wonder’ NEW YORK TIMES ‘By turns witty, ghoulish, poignant and curiously life-affirming, Little is a historical novel unlike any other’ BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE ‘It is Carey’s uniquely inventive style that makes this novel so completely, wickedly, addictive’ BIG ISSUE 'Edward Carey is one of the strangest writers we are privileged to have in this country’ OBSERVER ‘Carey creates an indelible character in Little, sprinkles idiosyncratic drawings throughout and folds his narrative in cunning ways…’  BBC  ‘Full of rich historical detail and beautiful illustrations … a rare treat of a novel that will stay with you long after you turn the final page’ HEAT 'Compulsively readable: so canny and weird and surfeited with the reality of human capacity and ingenuity that I am stymied for comparison. Dickens and David Lynch? Defoe meets Atwood? Judge for yourself...'  Gregory Maguire, author of WICKED

Little: A Times and Sunday Times Book of the Year

Aardvark Bureau

<p>The wry, macabre, unforgettable tale of an ambitious orphan in Revolutionary Paris, befriended by royalty and radicals, who transforms herself into the legendary Madame Tussaud.\nIn 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and... at the wax museum, heads are what they do.\nIn the tradition of Gregory Maguire's Wicked and Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Edward Carey's Little is a darkly endearing cavalcade of a novel—a story of art, class, determination, and how we hold on to what we love.</p>

Humor & Satire

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Gallic Books

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Books by Edward Carey