Title: Above the Universe Below
Author: Elias Barton
Genre: Fantasy, Dark,
Publisher: Iron Glass Press
Ebook/Paperback
Pages: 332
Purchase:
Book Description:
For two years running
(2011 & 2012) Above the Universe Below was was a semi-finalist in
Amazon.com's Breakthrough Novel Award and Publishers Weekly:
"Brilliant writing
carries this pleasantly odd tale of an agoraphobic artist, Carder Quevedo...
Carder's road is not an easy one, but readers will be rooting for him in this
unusual and beautifully written book."
An
agoraphobic artist in our world but a grim reaper in another, Carder Quevedo
hides at home, immersing himself in the paintings which commemorate the strange
deaths he's witnessed. He ventures into public only when necessary, scrambling
to his hospital job to extract corneas from deceased donors or darting to the
diner to share a meal with Darren, his only friend. That's Carder's existence -
and he's content.
Until...
Haika
changes that. As the bored, beautiful owner of an art gallery - who also
happens to be married - she stumbles into Carder in a chance encounter and soon
becomes obsessed with his art. As they forge a quirky, electric relationship,
Carder is reluctantly pulled into Haika's social world of wealth, status and
the peculiar characters that come with it. Carder is pushed further to the edge
when his teenage niece visits, rebelling against her ultra-conservative
upbringing. All the while, Carder's hidden history threatens to ruin his
developing chance at normalcy, and on the opening night of his art gallery
show, his past finally catches up to his present and wreaks havoc upon them
all.
Excerpt:
Haika’s
mouth is obscured behind an empty Styrofoam cup riddled with repeating arches
of gentle teeth-marks she’s bitten into it like colorless rainbows perforating
white sky. She meets Carder’s gaze with a mischievous smile, enjoying the role
of spectator and anthropologist. She’s relaxed, as if sitting in a bubble bath
with a goblet of wine in hand, reading this all in a novel someone lent her.
Love.
That’s
what Haika is: love. Not just love for Mike or art or New York. Haika is love
in every moment. She’s loving to Carder, to his relatives, to the Carlisle
boys. But she’s more. She’s love in the cloudless sky above, in the honey she
brought for tea, in the music she tries to soundtrack Carder’s life with, in
the thrift-store clothes she’s wearing, in the ascot knotted at her chin, in
her bare feet sliding through what would once have been war-torn grass, in the
sadness sometimes hiding in the corners of her lips. She brings love to every
moment… something Carder has never seen in another person. Ever. He obsesses
over every detail, and gulps down the harrowing thought that he’ll one day lose
her. He tries to be love like Haika is, to laze on the hammock of friendship
hanging from her eyes right now. He fills with gratitude. This has actually
happened. She had actually been in his life, and no one can take that away.
Carder could live off it for decades and fully plans to.
About the Author:
Elias
Barton has lived on the edge of an active volcano, worked in a Bible factory
and is the author of the novel "Above the Universe Below." He was a
semifinalist in both 2011 and 2012 for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. He
currently resides in Washington DC where he befriends gargoyles, feeds unicorns
and combats two cats who try to smother him in his sleep.
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