{"title":"Series: Seasonal Quartet","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the 'Seasonal Quartet' collection, an intriguing series of novels crafted by the acclaimed author Ali Smith. This captivating sequence delves into the essence of the four seasons, weaving together elements of time, nature, and the human condition through rich storytelling and profound observations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBegin your journey with \u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e, where Smith brilliantly captures the reflections of life against the backdrop of a post-Brexit Britain. Each book in the 'Seasonal Quartet' stands alone but offers an enriched experience when read as part of the series, showcasing Smith's unmatched ability to blend contemporary themes with timeless narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders will appreciate how the novels articulate the ebb and flow of time, mirroring the continual cycle of the seasons themselves. The series blurs the lines between traditional and modern fiction, offering not just a story but a thought-provoking commentary on the world we live in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you're a long-time admirer of Ali Smith's work or just beginning to explore her masterful prose, the 'Seasonal Quartet' promises a journey that resonates with insight, beauty, and an acute sense of present-day life. Dive into this literary exploration and discover how each season captivates with its own unique allure and insights.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"spring-by-ali-smith-9780241973356","title":"Spring","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnmissable third instalment in the bestselling, critically adored, dazzling inventive novel cycle, the Seasonal Quartet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat unites Katherine Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Brexit, the present, the past, the north, the south, the east, the west, a man mourning lost times, a woman trapped in modern times?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSpring\u003c\/em\u003e. The great connective.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith an eye to the migrancy of story over time, and riffing on \u003cem\u003ePericles\u003c\/em\u003e, one of Shakespeare's most resistant and rollicking works, Ali Smith tells the impossible tale of an impossible time. In a time of walls and lockdown, Smith opens the door.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe time we're living in is changing nature. Will it change the nature of story? Hope springs eternal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303239176428,"sku":"9780241973356","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3447103482274.jpg?v=1743119231"},{"product_id":"summer-by-ali-smith-9780241973370","title":"Summer","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dazzling, unforgettable conclusion to Ali Smith's tour de force, Man Booker-shortlisted Seasonal quartet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the present, Sacha knows the world's in trouble. Her brother, Robert, just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile, the world's in meltdown - and the real meltdown hasn't even started yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they're living on borrowed time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a story about people on the brink of change. They're family, but they think they're strangers. So, where does family begin? And what do people who think they've got nothing in common have in common?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSummer\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46495623151852,"sku":"9780241973370","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3447243482274.jpg?v=1748480435"},{"product_id":"winter-by-ali-smith-9780241973332","title":"Winter","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDark yet life-affirming, endlessly inventive and heart-breakingly human - the next novel in the \u003cem\u003eSeasonal\u003c\/em\u003e cycle, following the Man Booker-shortlisted \u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWinter\u003c\/em\u003e? Bleak. Earth as iron, water as stone, so the old song goes. But winter makes things visible. And Christmas is a time for family reunions, unexpected guests and evergreen truths.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's December in Cornwall and Art's mother is seeing things. Art has problems too. His girlfriend has left so he's paying Lux, a young immigrant he found on the street, to impersonate her - but Lux has no intention of sticking to the script. And Iris, Art's prodigal aunt, septuagenarian CND-er and black sheep of the family, is about to arrive with a car full of food and a throat full of protest songs. Four people, strangers and family, in a fifteen-bedroom house for Christmas - will there be enough room for everyone?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWinter\u003c\/em\u003e casts a merry eye over a bleak post-truth era with a story rooted in history, art, love and memory, protest and survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46496668319980,"sku":"9780241973332","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3446863482274.jpg?v=1748503264"},{"product_id":"autumn-by-ali-smith-9780241973318","title":"Autumn","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe novel of the year is obviously Ali Smith's \u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e... Expansive, shape-shifting, at once more stringent and more consoling than anything I've read this year. \u003cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003e— Olivia Laing, Observer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e 2016 — Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. And the UK is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer. Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAli Smith's new novel is a meditation on a world filling up with borders, on what richness and worth are, on what harvest means. From Shakespearian jeu d'esprit, via Keatsian melancholy and the sheer bright energy of 1960s Pop Art, this first in a quartet of novels casts an eye over our own time, asking who we are, where we are, right now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHere is time, ever-changing, ever cyclical. Here comes \u003cem\u003eAutumn\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46670182383852,"sku":"9780241973318","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3446723482274.jpg?v=1752762114"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/series-seasonal-quartet.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}