Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012
"Subtly and deftly, Thompson succeeds in capturing the experience of city life… Thompson can make a sentence sing in a way that is uniquely his own… you become aware that here is a new writer working out what he can do, and realising that he can do anything." —Telegraph
"A book packed with powerful, memorable writing… Thompson’s engrossing, memorable debut is worthy of close, appreciative reading." —Sunday Times
"Thompson's ten interlinked tales... deconstruct genre and myth while remaining original and superbly unsettling." —Guardian
"Wonderfully atmospheric and full of a subtle gothic horror that eats away like dry rot at the timbers of this city, Sam Thompson’s accomplished debut weaves many voice into a beguiling urban chorus." —Times Literary Supplement
Communion Town reveals the shadows and
sinister inhabitants of a city that never appears the same way twice.
On crowded streets, in the town squares and half-empty tower blocks, the
lonely and lost try to make a connection. A weary gumshoe pounds the reeking
sidewalks, seeking someone he knows he will never find. Violence loiters in
blind alleys, eager to embrace the unsuspecting and the reckless. Lovers are
doomed to follow treacherous paths that were laid long before they first met.
This city is no ordinary place. Here, the underworld has surfaced; dreams
melt into reality and memories are imagined before they are lived. Ghosts and
monsters, refugees and travellers – the voices of Communion Town
clamour to tell the stories of the city, stories that must be heard to be
believed.