Talking about the work's origins, and its three projected sequels, Smith said: The story largely alternates between Daniel's prolonged dreams as he edges closer to death, and Elisabeth's recollections of the origins of their friendship and its repercussions.Īutumn was published on 20 October 2016, less than four months after the UK's European Union membership referendum.

A major character in the novel is the long-dead '60s pop artist, Pauline Boty, the subject of Elisabeth's graduate school thesis.

As a consequence of his influence on her, Elisabeth is now a junior arts lecturer at a London university. Her mother had disapproved of their early friendship, due to the fact that Daniel was 85 and Elisabeth was 13 at the time, but Elisabeth had nevertheless formed a close bond with him and has been inspired by his descriptions of works of art. He is regularly visited by 32-year-old Elisabeth Demand, who had been his next door neighbour as a young child. Plot ĭaniel Gluck, a 101-year-old former songwriter, lies asleep and dreaming in his care home. The book was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017. Many newspapers viewed it as the most likely candidate for winning it was beaten by George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. In July 2017, Autumn was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and in September 2017 it was announced as one of six books to make the shortlist. Written rapidly after the United Kingdom's 2016 European Union membership referendum, it was widely regarded as the first 'post-Brexit novel' dealing with the issues raised by the voters' decision. It is the first of four seasonal ‘state of the nation’ works. Autumn is a 2016 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith, first published by Hamish Hamilton.

Autumn ali smith review