Carry the One

'Here's passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life. Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide' Emma Donoghue 
 
In the early hours of the morning, following a wedding reception, a car filled with stoned, drunk and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark country road. For the next twenty-five years, the lives of those involved are subtly shaped by this tragic moment. 
 
Through friendships and love affairs, marriage and divorce, parenthood, addiction, and the modest calamities and triumphs of ordinary days, Carry the One shows how one life affects another and how those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to each other than we'd expect. 
 
 
'Her deftly episodic novel of love, time and off-beat family life is warm, generous and wise. An enormously engaging novel' Daily Mail 
 
'Carry The Oneis a finely crafted novel, full of phrases you want to cut out and keep, and characters you think you know. It is delicate in its touch, yet huge in its reach' Observer 
 
'Superb . . . Anshaw sees her characters with startling clarity and no small helping of warmth and humour . . . Anshaw's writing [is] subtle, bemused, kind and smart, she nails moment after moment . . .Carry The Oneis a marvellous novel, grown-up, smart and emotionally intelligent about people who, like the rest of us, try but mostly fail to keep their ducks in a row' Patrick Ness, Guardian 
 
'A tender tale of what happens to ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances' Marie Claire 
 
'A funny, vivid and pingingly true story about longing and the pain of love. Anshaw conveys beefy emotions and life-changing events with the most gossamer of touches' Rachel Johnson, Vogue 
 
'If you love Jonathan Franzen, you'll love this compelling book' Entertainment Weekly

Her deftly episodic novel of love, time and off-beat family life is warm, generous and wise. An enormously engaging novel

Carry The One is a finely crafted novel, full of phrases you want to cut out and keep, and characters you think you know. It is delicate in its touch, yet huge in its reach

Superb . . . Anshaw sees her characters with startling clarity, an acute alertness to nuance, and no small helping of warmth and humour . . . Anshaw's writing [is] subtle, bemused, kind and smart, she nails moment after moment . . . Carry The One is a marvellous novel, grown-up, smart and emotionally intelligent about people who, like the rest of us, try but mostly fail to keep their ducks in a row

A tender tale of what happens to ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances

Here's passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life. Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide

Beautifully observed . . . [Anshaw] intimately dissects how one event or choice can alter the trajectory of a life, how a fork in the road can lead to wholly unexpected and divergent outcomes

A funny, vivid and pingingly true story about longing and the pain of love. Anshaw conveys beefy emotions and life-changing events with the most gossamer of touches

Anshaw's understated, casual tone is made delightful with small details.Vivid images hit home with finishing flourishes . . . Carry The One is an engaging narrative, eloquently told

Carol Anshaw is one of those authors who should be a household name . . . [a] fine, eloquent novel

Superb . . . [Anshaw] has a knack for capturing a personality in a single phrase

Moving and engaging . . . Anshaw has written not only a funny, smart and closely observed story, but also one that explores the way tragedy can follow hard on celebration, binding people together even more lastingly than passion.

Words used to praise Anshaw's earlier novels - witty, warm, intimate, poignant - apply equally well to her most compelling book yet, a wholly seductive tale of siblings, addiction, conviction, and genius . . . Masterful in her authenticity, quicksilver dialogue, wise humour, and receptivity to mystery, Anshaw has created a deft and transfixing novel of fallibility and quiet glory

A brilliant feat of storytelling . . . one of the most intensely vibrant novels I've ever read

Funny, touching, knowing . . . a quiet, lovely, genuine accomplishment

Splendid . . . sits somewhere between a Jonathan Franzen novel and a collection of haiku

Anshaw is that rare, brilliant, witty writer whose prose is rich and buttery, and whose plotting is as well-conceived and seamlessly executed as that of the most intricate thriller

If you love Jonathan Franzen, you'll love this compelling book

Graceful and compassionate . . . Writing with rueful wit and a subtle understanding of the currents and passions that rule us, Anshaw demonstrates that struggling to do one's best, whatever the circumstances, makes for a life of consequence

Anshaw submerges the reader in gorgeous detail

Carol Anshaw's writing is cool and funny, outraged and sympathetic by turns. The book is full of sharp observations and memorable phrases

A series of beautifully detailed snapshots . . . an arresting examination of three intersecting lives, forcefully told

Carol Anshaw is the author of Aquamarine, Seven Moves, and Lucky in the Corner. She lives in Chicago. www.carolanshaw.com

'When you add us up, you always have to carry the one' 
 
In the early hours of the morning, following a wedding reception, a car filled with stoned, drunk and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark country road. For the next twenty-five years, the lives of those involved are subtly shaped by this tragic moment. 
 
Through friendships and love affairs, marriage and divorce, parenthood, addiction, and the modest calamities and triumphs of ordinary days, Carry the One shows how one life affects another and how those who thrive and those who self-destruct are closer to each other than we'd expect.

Carol Anshaw

An exquisitely observed story of passion and friendship

I loved this so much. Thought-provoking, emotionally intelligent and beautifully written

Carol Anshaw has written a wonderful character in Cate, who is juggling a series of events and relationships, none of which quite connect or overlap with each other. The writing is smart and often funny, and the detail, perceptive and brilliantly observed. I loved being submerged in Cate's chaotic life, and even as I closed the last page, I was completely sure that she and all the other characters were alive and well, and continuing to muddle through, somewhere in Chicago

Anshaw crafts an engaging narrative with her customary precision and tart humor. Another treat from the great Anshaw: sharply observed, unsentimentally compassionate, always cognizant of life's complexities

Anshaw brings a fresh, keen voice to this story of modern lesbian life...[it] will captivate readers

Here's passion and addiction, guilt and damage, all the beautiful mess of family life, Carry the One will lift readers off their feet and bear them along on its eloquent tide

Superb . . . Anshaw sees her characters with startling clarity, an acute alertness to nuance, and no small helping of warmth and humour. A marvellous novel, grown-up, smart and emotionally intelligent

Her deftly episodic novel of love, time and off-beat family life is warm, generous and wise. Enormously engaging

Beautifully observed . . . intimately dissects how one event or choice can alter the trajectory of a life, how a fork in the road can lead to wholly unexpected and divergent outcomes

Cate is a stage designer in Chicago, caught up in an unconventional web of friends and lovers, when her life is suddenly overturned. Walking into her best friend's kitchen one day, she witnesses an act of violence that forces her to do something she never thought she could do. Nothing will ever be the same again. 
 
Wry, compassionate and startlingly beautiful, Right After the Weather explores the mess of trauma and love, and the reverberations of our actions.

Carol Anshaw

Praise for Right After the Weather

An exquisitely observed story of passion and friendship

I loved this so much. Thought-provoking, emotionally intelligent and beautifully written

Carol Anshaw has written a wonderful character in Cate, who is juggling a series of events and relationships, none of which quite connect or overlap with each other. The writing is smart and often funny, a ...

An exquisitely observed story of passion and friendship

I loved this so much. Thought-provoking, emotionally intelligent and beautifully written

Carol Anshaw has written a wonderful character in Cate, who is juggling a series of events and relationships, none of which quite connect or overlap with each other. The writing is smart and often funny, a ...

An exquisitely observed story of passion and friendship

I loved this so much. Thought-provoking, emotionally intelligent and beautifully written

Carol Anshaw has written a wonderful character in Cate, who is juggling a series of events and relationships, none of which quite connect or overlap with each other. The writing is smart and often funny, a ...

Books by Carol Anshaw

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