Jonathan Miles schreibt Romane, die tief in die menschliche Verfassung eintauchen und das komplexe Zusammenspiel von Glauben, Wundern und den oft unvorhergesehenen Gefahren der Gnade erforschen. Seine ausgeprägte Erzählstimme und seine sorgfältige Detailgenauigkeit ziehen die Leser in Geschichten, die ebenso zum Nachdenken anregen wie fesselnd sind. Durch seinen einzigartigen Ansatz verbindet Miles meisterhaft außergewöhnliche Umstände mit tiefen philosophischen Fragestellungen und festigt damit seine Position als bedeutende zeitgenössische literarische Stimme.
Vor über 20 Jahren hat er den größten Fehler seines Lebens begangen. Die einmalige Chance, ihn wiedergutzumachen, liegt nur wenige Flugstunden entfernt. Doch American Airlines storniert den Flug auf halber Strecke. Was tun? Bennie Ford, Mitte fünfzig, Sohn eines polnischen Kammerjägers und einer schizophrenen Malerin, Übersetzer und trockener Alkoholiker, gestrandet auf einem Flughafen in Chicago, schreibt einen Beschwerdebrief - der ihm aus Versehen zu einem Roman gerät. Über ein Leben, das so nicht hätte sein sollen. Oder doch?
Bennie Ford, Mitte fünfzig, strandet am Flughafen in Chicago, als sein Flug storniert wird. Um seinen größten Fehler aus der Vergangenheit wiedergutzumachen, beginnt er, einen Beschwerdebrief zu schreiben, der sich unerwartet zu einem Roman über sein Leben entwickelt.
Try the Wilderness First is the story of controversial artist Eric Gill's artistic and religious community in the Black Mountains of Wales during the 1920s, told through the character and work of Gill himself and David Jones, two of Britain's most significant twentieth century artists. In it Jonathan Miles offers a commentary on the radical Catholicism of Gill and on the community's Arts and Crafts-style focus on the handmade at its base in a former monastery. Capel-y-ffin's remoteness offered Gill time to develop his religious thinking but also to experiment with his sexuality. For Jones it offered escape from his wartime experiences and a cultural homecoming which resulted in a productive period of painting and engraving. The personality and practice of both men was to be marked indelibly by their time there and in this new edition of his book, Jonathan Miles incorporates new images and new research into a page-turning and accessible narrative.
This spellbinding account of the most famous shipwreck before the "Titanic" draws on published accounts and journals of survivors. Historian Miles brilliantly reconstructs the ill-fated voyage and the events that inspired Theodore Gericaults painting "The Raft of the Medusa."
From Peter the Great to Putin, this narrative captures the essence of St Petersburg, a city steeped in magic and menace. Rising from the River Neva's marshlands, it emerged as a new capital in an ancient land, founded in 1703 by the formidable Peter the Great. This metropolis quickly gained a reputation shaped by the tyrannical rule of its early leaders. Known by various names—St Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, and back to St Petersburg—it embodies contradictions: a gateway to Europe and the Enlightenment, yet the birthplace of Russia's rich cultural legacy in literature, music, and dance. It nurtured the talents of Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Pavlova, and Nureyev. However, beneath its opulent façade, the city has witnessed the bloodshed of countless lives on its snowy streets. It has been a crucible of war, revolution, siege, and famine, shaping the brutal legacies of Lenin and Stalin. This account weaves together the tumultuous history of three centuries, leading to the present, where the city's fate remains uncertain. It is a compelling tale of violence and beauty, encapsulating the spirit of a city and its resilient people.
A profound new novel about a paralyzed young man's unexplainable recovery--a stunning exploration of faith, science, mystery, and the meaning of life Rendered paraplegic after a traumatic event four years ago, Cameron Harris has been living his new existence alongside his sister, Tanya, in their battered Biloxi, Mississippi neighborhood where only half the houses made it through Katrina. One stiflingly hot August afternoon, as Cameron sits waiting for Tanya during their daily run to the Biz-E-Bee convenience store, he suddenly and inexplicably rises up and out of his wheelchair. In the aftermath of this "miracle," Cameron finds himself a celebrity at the center of a contentious debate about what's taken place. And when scientists, journalists, and a Vatican investigator start digging, Cameron's deepest secrets--the key to his injury, to his identity, and, in some eyes, to the nature of his recovery--become increasingly endangered. Was Cameron's recovery a genuine miracle, or a medical breakthrough? And, finding himself transformed into a symbol, how can he hope to retain his humanity? Brilliantly written as closely observed journalistic reportage and filtered through a wide lens that encompasses the vibrant characters affected by Cameron's story, Anatomy of a Miracle will be read, championed, and celebrated as a powerful story of our time, and the work of a true literary master.
