Set over a long weekend, Blake Morrison's new novel is a taut, atmospheric, brilliantly chilling story of a rivalrous friendship - as told by Ian, the deceptively casual narrator. It opens with a surprise phone call from an old university friend, inviting Ian and his wife, Em, for a few days by the sea. Their hosts, Ollie and Daisy, are a glamorous couple. And the scene is set for sunlit relaxation and cheerful reminiscence. But dangerous tensions quickly emerge. In vivid, careful prose, Blake Morrison perfectly conveys the stifling atmosphere of a remote cottage in the hottest days of summer. Troubling revelations from Ian's past slowly intrude. And his rivalry with Ollie intensifies as they resurrect a seemingly forgotten bet made twenty years before. Each day becomes a series of challenges for higher and higher stakes, setting in motion actions that will have irreversible consequences. The Last Weekend is a beautifully crafted page-turner, where little can be taken for granted, and nothing is quite as it seems. It offers a dark, haunting tale of friendship, sexual passion and jealousy - and confirms Blake Morrison as one of Britain's most unpredictable and talented writers.
Author
Blake Morrison was educated at Nottingham University, McMaster University and University College, London. After working for the Times Literary Supplement, he went on to become literary editor of both The Observer and the Independent on Sunday before becoming a full-time writer in 1995. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and former Chair of the Poetry Book Society and Vice-Chair of PEN, Blake has written fiction, poetry, journalism, literary criticism and libretti, as well as adapting plays for the stage. His best-known works are probably his two memoirs, "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" and "Things My Mother Never Told Me." Since 2003, Blake has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. He lives in south London, with his wife and three children.
