The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser

Description

Bibliographic Details

• Author: Michelle de Kretser
• Title: The Lost Dog
• Publisher: ‎ Little, Brown and Company; First North American Edition (April 28, 2008)
• Language: ‎ English
• Format: Hardcover – 326 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 031600183X
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0316001830
• Item Weight: ‎ 1.2 pounds
• Dimensions: ‎ 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Book Condition: Used – Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good (shows minimal shelf wear)
• Edition: First North American Edition

Synopsis:

Tom Loxley, an Indian-Australian professor, is less concerned with finishing his book on Henry James than with finding his dog, who is lost in the Australian bush. Joining his daily hunt is Nelly Zhang, an artist whose husband disappeared mysteriously years before Tom met her. Although Nelly helps him search for his beloved pet, Tom isn't sure if he should trust this new friend.

Tom has preoccupations other than his book and Nelly and his missing dog, mainly concerning his mother, who is suffering from the various indignities of old age. He is constantly drawn from the cerebral to the primitive — by his mother's infirmities, as well as by Nelly's attractions. The Lost Dog makes brilliant use of the conventions of suspense and atmosphere while leading us to see anew the ever-present conflicts between our bodies and our minds, the present and the past, the primal and the civilized.

About the Author:

Michelle de Kretser is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka but moved to Australia when she was 14.

She was educated in Melbourne and Paris, and published her first novel, 'The Rose Grower' in 1999. Her second novel, published in 2003, 'The Hamilton Case' was winner of the Tasmania Pacific Prize, the Encore Award (UK) and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Southeast Asia and Pacific).

'The Lost Dog' was published in 2007. It was one of 13 books on the long list for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. From 1989 to 1992 she was a founding editor of the Australian Women's Book Review.

Michelle de Kretser is currently an associate of the English Department at the University of Sydney.