Matthew Yorke
Writer
Books
Books
Matthew Yorke is the author of The March Fence (Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Chancing It and Pictures of Lily (Shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize). He also edited Surviving: The Uncollected Writings of Henry Green. He lives in London.
'Matthew Yorke’s Fish Tale, the most beguiling novel I’ve read since M. John Harrison’s The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again (which is also, curiously, about fish), nearly slipped through the net. Brought to us by an independent publisher and delivered without the fanfare of a vast publicity machine, it rests on the toss of a coin, the theft of a picture, an accidental-on-purpose death during the salmon season and a king venturing forth among his subjects. This seemingly soft-footed fable anticipates the surreal realities of this year, where the reign of our own king began with a government gamble.' - Frances Wilson
Fiction
| Publication Details | Notes |
|---|---|
FISH TALE 2022 Cogito | "A most unusual page-turner..." - Jung Chang When a beautiful painting of a woman goes missing from Balmoral Castle, the consequences are far-reaching: a tragic death, a search for truth and motive, a fraught reconciliation between father and son. In this lyrical tale that moves between the royal residences, the royal residences the Amazon rainforest and the meeting rooms of Gamblers Anonymous, the concept of chance - random events the impact on our lives - is explored through a series of related happenings, with very unexpected results. "As beguiling and uncatchable as a dream.." - Frances Wilson |
PICTURES OF LILY 2010 Corsair | (Shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize) 'Matthew Yorke inhabits his teenage protagonist in a way that is utterly convincing. Here is a girl who has a crush on her best friend, plays mind games with her therapist, smokes dope, speaks to her dead grandmother and is torn between the comfort of belonging and the need to know where she came from. And there isn’t a single false note.' Financial Times 'Adoption is the theme of this dark and painful novel, in which, in a feat of remarkable ventriloquism, a 52 year old novelist adopts the voice of a young girl frenetically asking the same question over and over again: “Why was I given up?”' The Spectator 'Yorke’s refusal to give the ending one may hope for is a mark of the novel’s honesty.' The Scotsman |
CHANCING IT 2005 The Waywiser Press | 'Mathew Yorke’s Chancing It has a 18-year-old hero like D. H. Lawrence’s Rocking Horse Winner in a Yorkshire town. A fine evocation of places, people and period.' Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year 'A wry, politically charged novel, Chancing It is much more than a simple fable. Yorke’s prose is often poetic, his themes unexpectedly complex; the hapless characters and their sad games of chance are unforgettable.' The Independent 'Chancing It - Yorke’s second novel – is well-worded, well-made, funny, grave and quietly suspenseful.' The Sunday Herald |
THE MARCH FENCE 1989 Penguin | (Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize) 'This is a novel which throbs with life and wonder at the manifold varieties of experience … The talent for writing novels may be hard to define, yet it is unmistakable when encountered … [Matthew Yorke’s The March Fence] is the real thing … the best first novel that I have read in a long time.' The Scotsman 'A most impressive debut.' The Times 'Distinctive, energetic, the narrative takes a real grip.' The Daily Telegraph 'Precision and craftsmanship form the backbone of this thoughtful and unusual novel.' New Statesman |