'A universal love story' Guardian

'Beautiful and very funny' Brett Anderson

'This book glows in the heart of the reader' Max Porter

'This book is such a sneaky head f*ck - an epic poem in an ancient style about the brutalities of modern love, a masculine interrogation of feminine heartbreak, a really beautiful way to spend an evening' Lena Dunham

The second time you came, we went from bar to bar to bar. It made the city feel smaller. Like a map we were folding to the size of a stamp. We were good at that. We could have fit an entire universe inside a matchbox.

Love builds up little by little and that's why it makes people reach for words like root and sediment and other words to do with rocks and trees. But what about the dismantling? Does it happen that way too? Because it feels like it is happening much, much faster. And I am reaching for words like landslide and like wave and like storm ...

Exquisitely crafted, wildly imaginative and as darkly funny as it is moving, Hourglass is a revolutionary love story. It turns time upside down, combs the intimate wreckage of heartbreak for something universal, and asks what it means to lose what you love.

'Hourglass will stay with me for a long time. Hypnotic' Lemn Sissay

'Evocative, ecstatic and saturated with off-kilter wit' Alexandra Kleeman

About the Author
Keiran Goddard grew up in Shard End, Birmingham in a working-class family. He is the author of one poetry pamphlet, two poetry collections and the novel Hourglass. His debut collection was shortlisted for the Melita Hume Prize, he was the runner up in the William Blake Prize and Hourglass was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott prize. He speaks internationally on issues related to social change and currently develops research on workers' rights, the future of work, automation and trade unionism.

Reviews
Beautiful, funny, profound ... Read it in one glowing session * New Statesman *
The charms of Hourglass, like those of the narrator himself, are insidious. This is a sad book that is somehow wickedly fun to read * LA Times *
An arresting, exquisitely told love story ... if ever a book could be read as a pilgrimage to discover what the heart finds sacred, this is it. * Irish Times *
Hourglass burnishes its ideas of love and agony with an almost mystical attention to feeling. This book truly glows in the heart of the reader -- Max Porter
Evocative, ecstatic, and saturated with off-kilter wit, Hourglass renders heartbreak as both vividly, luminously particular, and intensely, intimately familiar. There are lines from this remarkable book etched all over my memory, indelible -- Alexandra Kleeman
This book is such a sneaky head f*ck - an epic poem in an ancient style about the brutalities of modern love, a masculine interrogation of feminine heartbreak, a really beautiful way to spend an evening -- Lena Dunham
Hourglass will stay with me for a long time. Hypnotic. -- Lemn Sissay
A book for anyone who ever has been or ever will be heartbroken. So that's everyone. -- Hollie McNish
A stunning reimagining of the love story ... every word shines new and true -- Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure
Shockingly intimate and devastatingly funny, bleak and true -- Luke Kennard, author of The Answer to Everything
This book is a world. A broken dance floor of glass and gold, so rare and precious you barely believe it is real, but haunts you all day like a song. Vivid and brilliant. -- Greta Bellamacina
This is high-wire writing: a novel where every sentence counts. They add up to something profoundly honest and truly magical -- Matt Thorne
This is a beautiful book: by turns tough and tender, acerbically funny and deeply humane. Keiran Goddard's mind is a marvel. We are lucky to have him. -- Tabitha Lasley
A story of doomed romance as touching as it is abstract * Financial Times *
A universal love story * Guardian *
Beautiful and very funny -- Brett Anderson


Awards
Long-listed for Desmond Elliott Prize 2022 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781408714874
Author Keiran Goddard
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Little, Brown
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 289g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 132mm * 26mm