The Snow Ball

Review One of the strangest and wittiest British writers of the past half century ... A comet in her day. -- Terry Castle What a pleasure it is to come upon a novel which so palpably enjoys itself ... Superb ... Sheer artistic insolence. -- Iris Murdoch Concerned as it is with the developments of three erotic relationships during a masked ball, it makes Mary McCarthy's The Group seem tame. -- Guardian A miracle ... Society is touched by the magic of make-believe, a magic behind whose childlike gaiety there is a wholly adult melancholy, a deep preoccupation with the impermanence of love and the inevitability of death. -- Times A marvel - at once so sensual and so intelligent, so decadent and so cutting, and wickedly funny in the bargain. -- Merve Emre Pitch-perfect ... Witty, unexpectedly moving and a revelation again of Brophy's originality. -- Ali Smith on The King of a Rainy Country Product Description When Anna is kissed by a mysterious stranger at a NYE masquerade ball, a dance of seduction begins. 'So original and refreshing.' Hilary Mantel 'Brilliantly seductive ... A witty, sexy, sophisticated treat.' Sarah Waters 'Superb ... Sheer artistic insolence.' Iris Murdoch 'A great novel ... A swirling, sumptuous, sensual feast.' Guardian London, New Year's Eve. Snow falls on a Georgian mansion, vibrating with the festivities of a masquerade ball within. Middle-aged divorcee Anna stands alone - until the clock chimes midnight and a mysterious figure kisses her on the mouth. Thus begins a dance of seduction charged by clandestine romances swirling around them, whipping the ball into an frenzy of operatic proportions - until the night climaxes, revealing unease beneath the glitter ... A scandalous sensation in 1964, Brigid Brophy's The Snow Ballis ripe to seduce a new generation of readers. 'I read it in one sitting ... Wonderful!' Claire-Louise Bennett 'A feminist remodelling of libertine fervour and passion.' Eley Williams 'One of the wittiest British writers of the past half century ... A comet in her day.' Terry Castle What Readers Are Saying: An ornate masterpiece. Sensual, wicked, clever; its dark heart glittering. So pleasurable and original and weird. Takes the heady, lusty, excitement that comes with new love and mingles it with the exuberance, decadence, and hedonism of NYE ... A short swirling treat. A perfect little masterpiece, an opera in paperback ... I was seduced and I hoped and I flinched and I laughed and I admired. The lovechild of Angela Carter and Virginia Woolf: trippy and fluid, existential and erotic, funny and witty: a hedonistic comedy of manners. I think I love this crazy little book .. Super sexy ... Made me hoot out loud with glee for the language and audacity. Oh man, this was a lot of fun. Such a strong sense of intelligence and wit behind every sentence. Review So original and refreshing: the opulence, playful excess, brittle wit ... A great novel ... Brophy's ornate and operatic masterpiece ... A swirling, sumptuous, sensual feast. ― Guardian Brophy's fiction is long overdue a revival, and this brilliantly seductive novel shows her writing at its glittering best. A witty, sexy, sophisticated treat. -- Sarah Waters Beautiful ... What a pleasure it is to come upon a novel which so palpably enjoys itself ... Superb ... Sheer artistic insolence. -- Iris Murdoch A feminist remodelling of libertine fervour and passion ... Brophy's art is fiction at its finest. I read it in one sitting ... Wonderful! Provided some much needed glamour and a rare portrait of female sexual experience that rang so true. One of the strangest and wittiest British writers of the past half century ... A comet. -- Terry Castle Elegant and sensuous, delicious, The Snow Ball is an irresistible, dark-hearted pleasure. A marvel - at once so sensual and so intelligent, so decadent and so cutting, and wickedly funny in the bargain. The Brophy renaissance can't come soon enough. A hilarious, risky, cherubic novel