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.
Find
the Author:
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