"A woman receives an unexpected call from a former classmate asking
for help deciphering a puzzling interaction, and from there, Smith spins
out a broader story about loneliness, refuge and freedom." --The New
York Times Book Review
"Lyrical and timely...Smith's novel will push readers to consider what
it means to let people into your life, even when you don't want to."
--TIME
"A story is never an answer. A story is always a question."
A day spent locked in a room by border officials without any explanation
as to why. A riddle that seemingly has no answer: curlew or curfew, you
choose. A phone call from a college friend who hasn't been in touch in
years. And all of it is somehow inextricably linked to the life of a
young blacksmith hounded from her trade and branded a vagrant nearly 500
years ago.
Award-winning author Ali Smith shines a guiding light through the
nightmarish now with a provocative novel that intertwines our atomized
present and the uncannily parallel era of the Black Plague. In the hope
that our medieval past may unlock the answers we seek to understand our
hazy future, Companion Piece is a kaleidoscope of human history and
experience, and a stunning addition to Smith's gorgeous canon.
