Incarnations

Susan Barker grew up in east London and lives in Manchester where she is senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of SAYONARA BAR, THE ORIENTALIST AND THE GHOST and THE INCARNATIONS which was a New York Times Notable Book, a Kirkus Reviews' Top Ten Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.

"Reads as China's Midnight's Children. Utterly remarkable" The Independent "An extraordinary novel. Erudite, intriguing and compulsively readable, THE INCARNATIONS takes the reader on an intimate and mesmerizing journey through Chinese history. Susan Barker, a born story-teller, has written one of the most remarkable novels of recent years." -- JOHN BOYNE "A thrilling journey through a thousand years of obsession and betrayal and a vivid tapestry of the individual's struggle against the tyranny of history, this is the most extraordinary work of imagination you'll read all year" -- ADAM JOHNSON, WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013 "A brilliant, mind-expanding and wildly original novel" -- CHRIS CLEAVE "What a ferociously talented writer Susan Barker is. The Incarnations is a hallucinatory ride. Highly recommend" -- ANNA HOPE, Author of WAKE "Remarkable - ambitious in scope, painstakingly researched and most importantly, a gripping read." Publishing Perspectives "Letters from someone who claims to have known him for 1,000 years unsettle a cabbie." The Observer "A MUST-READ - July picks" Marie-Claire Magazine "Ambitious in scope, scholarly in depth, and absolutely rivetting ...Sure to make an impact and she deserves all the praise - and most likely prize(s) - that will follow." South China Post "Light and often witty ...There is tragedy, though perhaps not where the reader expects it, but there is also hope." www.thatsmags.com China "Invigorating. To recreate convincingly a single historical period is an achievement. To recreate six is to approach virtuosity ... Deft, smart, various and warm: a very good book indeed." Sunday Business Post, Ireland "Multi-layered and masterful. Suspend your disbelief, flow along with this wonderful book." Guardian "Stunning. Moving between Wang's many pasts, all of them thrilling, gruesome, and tragic, and Wang's increasingly desperate present, Barker's historical tour de force is simultaneously sweeping and precise. Barker's psychologically nuanced characters and sharp wit turn the bleakness and the gore into something seriously moving. Effortlessly blends the past with the present, dark humour with profound sadness. A deeply human masterpiece." Kirkus "Not since Jung Chang's WILD SWANS has there been such a visceral re-telling of the old days." Open Magazine, India "Barker resembles David Mitchell in the ability to weave together past and present in a convincing, and ultimately intriguing, manner" Sydney Morning Herald "China reels with tension" LA Review "This is a beautifully structured novel, and the interspersed letters describing previous lives are engrossing and sharp. These past lives are too real to feel like mere metaphor. Cruelty, betrayal and slavery reoccur over the centuries, and are echoed in Wang's modern life. The prose is light and often witty, and the characterization is one of the book's most impressive aspects... This is an extremely satisfying and intelligent book" That's Shanghai "A wonderful piece of historical/fantasy/suspense fiction unlike anything else I've read... Constantly unpredictable and surprising" Goodreads "Barker is a phenomenal storyteller. She time-travels seamlessly from the Tang Dynasty in AD 632 to contemporary Beijing and each snippet of each incarnation, rich in convincing detail, is utterly mesmerising" Goodreads "Barker has created a set of characters who jump off the page and Wang's heartrending story is sensitively told" madabouthebooks.co.uk