- Published: 07/04/2011
- ISBN: 9781846273629
- Granta Books
- 352 pages
Nimrod’s Shadow
Chris Paling
Reilly is an impoverished painter who lives alone in a shabby garret, with only his unsold canvases and his faithful dog Nimrod for company. He seems destined to remain in artistic obscurity until the most influential art critic of the time begins to notice his talent. But no sooner has he found a patron than the critic is found drowned in a local canal and the trail leads directly back to Reilly. From Reilly’s prison cell in Edwardian London to an exclusive gallery in contemporary Soho, the clues that lead to the real murderer lie carefully hidden, until the day when Samantha, a young office assistant, finds herself drawn to one of Reilly’s pictures and decides to embark on her own investigation … Steeped in atmosphere and laced with intrigue, Nimrod’s Shadow is a gripping tale of genius, jealousy and revenge – with a few twists and turns along the way.
£7.99
Tightly wound, often nail-biting ... the narrative shuffles a dizzying variety of moods before coming to a masterfully unexpected climax and conclusion. Bravura stuff
Liz Jensen, Guardian
A comic study in human resilience, Chris Paling's satisfying yarn ... is a novel of ideas that considers both the way that an artist's creations can reach down through the years and the role that the viewer plays in interpreting any work of art
Adrian Turpin, Financial Times
Nimrod's Shadow reads like a good thriller that leaps across time periods as the investigations into the crime, then and now, gain pace ... A quirky, but considered, delight
Time Out
From the Same Author
Minding
Chris Paling
Now that Billy lives with his new family, he and his mother only get to see each other four times a year. These brief visits are what Billy dreams of and they’re the reason why Jane struggles to get up every day, to keep her flat tidy, and to behave in the way she’s learned that other people consider ‘normal’. But as their day together approaches, Jane receives a sudden and violent reminder of her troubled past and ends up in the hospital again, missing their appointment. It is only when Billy eats the piece of chocolate he’s been saving since their last meeting that he discovers the message she’d written on the inside of the wrapper, along with an address, and there suddenly seems to be a possibility that they can be with each other again – but this will mean dodging the authorities and finally confronting the legacy of Jane’s own damaged childhood.
This is the moving and uplifting story of a young mother and her son – kept apart by mental illness, brought back together by love. It is certain to find admirers among readers of Zoe Heller, Esther Freud, Helen Simpson, Gill Hornby, Lionel Shriver, Shena Mackay, Lavinia Greenlaw, Andrea Ashworth and Julia Darling.
