Description
A haunting ode to Cornish folklore and the secrets of the places we call home
'This powerfully brutal novel is the most exciting thing I've read in years' S. J. WATSON
'A strange and beautiful novel' OBSERVER
'A book where language feels like hands reaching into the soil, where landscapes feel alive, where sentences, houses and memory are suffused with the uncanny' TOM DE FRESTON
Everything that comes from the ground has to go back down... eventually
Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.
When Merryn returns home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She's sure that her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what? And then there's a notebook, found in an old chest of drawers, full of long-forgotten folklore that seems to be linked somehow to Claud...
A haunting literary debut novel
About the Author
JODIE MATTHEWS is from Cornwall and lives in Manchester. Meet Me At The Surface is her first novel, and was shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award and the Blue Pencil First Novel Award 2021.
Reviews
'Mysterious and otherworldly, this powerfully brutal novel is the most exciting thing I've read in years. The writing is so assured, it's almost impossible to believe it's a debut' S. J. Watson
'A lyrical exploration of landscape, folklore and self, this has haunted me since I read it. Brilliantly captures the feelings of not fitting in and the intensity of first love' Emily Barr
'A strange and beautiful novel from a first-time author who skillfully wields mystery and unease. Matthews's writing is brilliantly assured. Skipping effortlessly between past and present, she wields language powerfully and brutally, yet with a lightness of touch that is deceptively seductive. It's hard to believe it's the work of a first-time novelist' Observer
'Meet Me At The Surface is a book where language feels like hands reaching into the soil, where landscapes feel alive, where sentences, houses and memory are suffused with the uncanny. It manages to do the magic trick of containing a propulsive narrative whilst being formally inventive, weaving complex narrative strands into a compelling, beguiling tapestry. It is an astonishing book by a special writer' Tom De Freston, author of Wreck
'Assured and beautifully written, Jodie Matthews' novel is an astonishing debut. It's rare to find the Cornwall which most of us Cornish recognise in modern literature, but it's here in all its vivid and magical glory. Rhythmic, atmospheric and endearing' Charlie Carroll, author of The Lip
'A brilliantly modern take on the Celtic folkloric tradition, Meet Me At The Surface is a beautifully written lament that creeps under the skin long after you have finished reading. An affecting and deeply absorbing read' Jade Angeles Fitton, author of Hermit
"Uncanny, visceral, claustrophobic and otherworldly: a work of strange and lyrical beauty." Ian Russell-Hsieh, author of I'm New Here
Book Information
ISBN 9780008585051
Author Jodie Matthews
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Fourth Estate Ltd
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 270g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm
