
The Memory Police
Shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize
A Guardian Best Book of the Year
A Time Magazine Best Book
A Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2019
An Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year selection
A Dallas Morning News Pick of Best Books of the Year
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2019
Winner of American Book Award, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for Man Booker International Prize, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for National Book Awards, 2019
Winner of American Book Award, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for Man Booker International Prize, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for National Book Awards, 2019
Winner of American Book Award, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for Man Booker International Prize, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for National Book Awards, 2019
Winner of American Book Award, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for Man Booker International Prize, 2020
Among shortlisted titles for National Book Awards, 2019
*** LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE AND THE 2020 TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD ***
*** NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE YEAR ***
A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor.
On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.
Praise