{"title":"Books by Aimee Bender","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780091953904","title":"The Butterfly Lampshade","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE PEN\/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'[A] compact surrealist memory box of a novel . . . Its particular quality of stillness hums with so much mystery and intensity that the book never feels static . . . '\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Lampshade\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e is an unflinching, empathetic portrayal of a childhood touched by mental illness. As always, Aimee Bender's respect for the child and the child within translates into wisdom and magic on the page.' \u003c\/b\u003eJing-Jing Lee, author of \u003ci\u003eHow We Disappeared\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the night her mother is taken to a mental hospital after a psychotic episode, eight year-old Francie is staying with her babysitter. Next to the couch on which she's sleeping, there is a lamp that catches her eye, its shade adorned with butterflies. When she wakes, Francie sees a dead butterfly floating in a glass of water. She drinks it before the babysitter can see.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Twenty years later, Francie is compelled to make sense of that moment, and two other incidents - her discovery of a desiccated beetle from a school paper, and a bouquet of dried roses from some curtains. Her recall is exact: she is sure these things were real. But despite her certainty, she wrestles with the hold these memories have over her, and with what they say about her place in the world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Told in lush, lilting prose, \u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Lampshade \u003c\/i\u003eis a heartfelt and heartbreaking examination of the sometimes overwhelming power of the material world, and of a broken love between mother and child.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201366786226,"sku":"9780091953904","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780091953904_ba4a5712-6e2c-478e-b5af-d762259a475e.jpg?v=1786011128"},{"product_id":"9780099538264","title":"The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn the eve of her ninth birthday, Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. All at once her cheerful, can-do mother tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes perilous. Anything can be revealed at any meal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRose's gift forces her to confront the truth behind her family's emotions - her mother's sadness, her father's detachment and her brother's clash with the world. But as Rose grows up, she learns that there are some secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake \u003c\/i\u003eis about the pain of loving those whom you know too much about, and the secrets that exist within every family. At once profound, funny, wise and sad, this is a novel to savour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow available to preorder: Aimee Bender's new novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Butterfly Lampshade\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56223767101813,"sku":"9780099538264","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099538264_fb0bd3c5-aeb6-43e7-bef6-87349d69a487.jpg?v=1786011407"},{"product_id":"an-invisible-sign-of-my-own","title":"An Invisible Sign of My Own","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Mona Gray is ten, her father contracts a mysterious illness. His gradual withdrawal from everyday life marks a similar change in Mona, who removes herself from anything - or anyone - that might bring her happiness. Numbers provide a kind of solace, and help her make sense of the world: she counts words in her head, adds her steps, and multiplies people in the park against one another. As a maths teacher, Mona delights her pupils by encouraging them to find objects that take the form of numbers. But when seven-year-old Lisa appears with a zero that displays real turmoil, Mona knows that in order to help a person in pain, she needs to find a way to connect with the world she has been afraid of for so long.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Invisible Sign of My Own \u003c\/i\u003eis a story about children and adults, and how we protect ourselves from the things we fear the most. It is about superstition and logic and the big muddy area in between. Written with the same eloquence and flair that characterises\u003ci\u003eThe Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake\u003c\/i\u003e, this novel marks the sign of a unique talent in contemporary fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57555316769141,"sku":"9780099558521","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099558521.jpg?v=1788790934"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-aimee-bender.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}