Publisher Description

Clever, wise, reflective and imaginative, these stories are permeated with understanding of what it has meant for generations of British people to cross the Channel and make a life in France.From the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction comes an enthralling set of short stories.No one has a better perspective on life on both sides of the channel than Julian Barnes. In these exquisitely crafted stories spanning several centuries, he takes as his universal theme the British in France; from the last days of a reclusive English composer, the beef consuming 'navvies' labouring on the Paris-Rouen railway to a lonely woman mourning the death of her brother on the battlefields of the Somme.

Notes

Short stories spanning several centuries, tackling the theme of the British in France.

Back Cover

'Few writers think and talk so beguilingly' Zoe Heller, Independent on Sunday No one has a better perspective to see things from both sides of the channel than Julian Barnes. In these exquisitely crafted stories, which span several centuries, he takes as his central theme the British in France: from the last days of a reclusive English composer and the beef consuming 'navvies' labouring on the Paris-Rouen railway, to a lonely woman mourning the death of her brother on the battlefields of the Somme. Clever, wise, reflective and imaginative, these stories are permeated with understanding of what it has meant for generations from these islands to cross the Channel. 'Julian Barnes, who has an exceptional following in France, seems to have done more for Anglo-French relations than anyone since Edward VII' Sunday Telegraph 'Mind-blowing...there is no more gifted writer writing today' Le Figaro

Author Biography

Julian Barnes is the author of thirteen novels, including The Sense of an Ending, which won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and Sunday Times bestsellers The Noise of Time and The Only Story. He has also written three books of short stories, four collections of essays and three books of non-fiction, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Levels of Life and Nothing To Be Frightened Of, which won the 2021 Yasnaya Polyana Prize in Russia. In 2017 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur.

Review

Always intelligent and perceptive, but so beautifully written that it's easy to understand. * Week *
Crisp with witty, urbane intelligence. * Sunday Times *
Wonderfully ironic, perceptive and at times tender... Barnes has created something unique in his work, a particular way of looking at life, at words, at relationships, which is the mark of every true stylist * Financial Times *
His writing demonstrates the billowing lightness of imagination... reading these stories, you perceive and love France afresh... Cross Channel is characterised by the intelligence, irony and wit you associate with his writing, but it is also suffused with feeling, deeply seasoned with affection * Independent *
A glittering collection of stories... His marvellously supple and exact prose is matched with subjects that powerfully stir his creativity... It's impossible to imagine a fictional panorama of Britain's long relationship with France realized with more cordial understanding * Sunday Times *

Promotional

The book is a delight... Undoubtedly Barnes's best book since Flaubert's Parrot' Allan Massie, Scotsman

Review Text

Always intelligent and perceptive, but so beautifully written that it's easy to understand.

Review Quote

Always intelligent and perceptive, but so beautifully written that it's easy to understand.

Promotional "Headline"

Clever, wise, reflective and imaginative, these stories are permeated with understanding of what it has meant for generations of British people to cross the Channel and make a life in France.

Details