Visitors

The extraordinary Anita Brookner, praised by The New York Times as "one of the finest novelists of her generation," gives us a brilliant novel about age and awakening. In Visitors, Brookner explores what happens when a woman's quiet resignation to fate is challenged by the arrogance of youth. Dorothea May is most at ease in the company of strangers. When her late husband's relatives prevail on her to take in a young man for the week before an unexpected family wedding, Thea's carefully constructed, solitary world is thrown into disarray. As the wedding approaches, old family secrets surface and conflicts erupt between the generations, trapping an unwilling Thea in the middle. Confronted by the company of Steve Best, a carefree young wanderer, Thea's fragile facade of peaceful acceptance is pierced, forcing her to face in a new way both her past and her future. Exquisite writing, richly drawn characters, and penetrating prceptions about people are here combined into another superb novel by the writer about whom The New York Times Book Review has said, "If Henry James were around, the only writer he'd be reading with complete approval would be Anita Brookner."

The extraordinary Anita Brookner, praised by The New York Times as "one of the finest novelists of her generation," gives us a brilliant novel about age and awakening. In Visitors, Brookner explores what happens when a woman's quiet resignation to fate is challenged by the arrogance of youth. Dorothea May is most at ease in the company of strangers. When her late husband's relatives prevail on her to take in a young man for the week before an unexpected family wedding, Thea's carefully constructed, solitary world is thrown into disarray. As the wedding approaches, old family secrets surface and conflicts erupt between the generations, trapping an unwilling Thea in the middle. Confronted by the company of Steve Best, a carefree young wanderer, Thea's fragile facade of peaceful acceptance is pierced, forcing her to face in a new way both her past and her future. Exquisite writing, richly drawn characters, and penetrating prceptions about people are here combined into another superb novel by the writer about whom The New York Times Book Review has said, "If Henry James were around, the only writer he'd be reading with complete approval would be Anita Brookner."

Suppose you could communicate with a visitor who was not from this place, time-space or even this dimension? What would you want to ask them? The answers probably lie in what our own response would be if we were them. This book is based on a collection of interviews I have had with a few individuals who may have actually had such an experience. The idea is that if enough of us are ready to ask the questions and gain the answers, then our collective knowledge and understanding of the “multiverse” about us can only continue to be enhanced. Sometimes the responses that you will read here are similar; often they are diametrically opposed to each other. An open but highly skeptical mind is extremely necessary if you are going to sift through the data that is presented in this book. The intent is that it should peak your curiosity to learn more about “visitors.” In this way, we may be better informed and prepared, and thus in some sort of coherent shape to deal with their arrival. If you read this book, you must be well prepared to choose for yourself what you will or will not believe.

Suppose you could communicate with a visitor who was not from this place, time-space or even this dimension? What would you want to ask them? The answers probably lie in what our own response would be if we were them. This book is based on a collection of interviews I have had with a few individuals who may have actually had such an experience. The idea is that if enough of us are ready to ask the questions and gain the answers, then our collective knowledge and understanding of the “multiverse” about us can only continue to be enhanced. Sometimes the responses that you will read here are similar; often they are diametrically opposed to each other. An open but highly skeptical mind is extremely necessary if you are going to sift through the data that is presented in this book. The intent is that it should peak your curiosity to learn more about “visitors.” In this way, we may be better informed and prepared, and thus in some sort of coherent shape to deal with their arrival. If you read this book, you must be well prepared to choose for yourself what you will or will not believe.