Jane Stevenson

Page Updated: 12/04/00

Jane Stevenson

London Bridges

11 May 00

Several Deceptions

pbk 11 May 00

About the Author (Photo by Jerry Bauer)

Bibliography

First British Edition Jonathan Cape (2000)

London Bridges
Jane Stevenson's collection of novellas, Several Deceptions, was one of the critical successes of 1999. London Bridges, her first novel, evokes the mood and sheer enjoyability of classic English detective fiction, though it is set in the London of the 1990s. A young lawyer comes across a treasure lost in the Blitz, and is tempted into a series of crimes which end eventually in murder. Meanwhile, a very contemporary cast of characters assembles to confound him. The denouement of the intricate plot occurs in the Cotswolds, and involves teddy bears, Greek monks, New Age bikers and the source of the Thames, but before we get there, there is humour, satire, social observation, occasional moments of pathos, and the scintillating wit and intelligence that distinguished Several Deceptions.
Praise for Several Deceptions
'These stories are refreshingly, unapologetically erudite… They are also extremely funny… The novella is not the easiest of literary forms… but Stevenson makes it appear effortless.' Stephanie Merritt, Observer
'A very enjoyable display of deadly wit given with a relaxed literary confidence… Here is a gossipy, smart, critical, intellectual, high-spirited and literate voice.' Hal Jensen, Times Literary Supplement
'An accomplished first book, and even if Stevenson never writes another word, she is already more than promising.' Phil Baker, Sunday Times
'What sustains this… is an unfashionable concept of serious fiction as entertainment, an art in which the process is as enjoyable as the effects it is designed to produce.’ Jonathan Keates, Independent

Paperback - Vintage (2000)

Several Deceptions
These four novellas are narrated by a brilliantly distinctive voice telling the stories of an Anglo-Italian Professor of Semiotics undone by his own cleverness: an Irishwoman who joins a Tibetan nunnery in India; The old university friends whose party is galvanised by a pugnacious newcomer into a demented, Buchanesque mission to restore their hostess’s lost honour; and an international lawyer who takes to terrorism in pursuit of a theory. Several Deceptions is clever, funny and a little cruel and introduces a writer of quite remarkable gifts.

About The Author
Jane Stevenson teaches in the Centre for British and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick

Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

London Bridges (Jonathan Cape, 2000) May 00

Several Deceptions (Jonathan Cape, 1999) Vintage Pbk May 00

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