She appears at the country house that a London couple named. When Eve finally banishes her from the cottage, Amber disappears from their sight, but not-they discover when they return home to London-from their profoundly altered lives.įearlessly intelligent and written with an irresistible blend of lyricism and whimsy, The Accidental is a tour de force of literary improvisation that explores the nature of truth, the role of chance, and the transformative power of storytelling. The Stamp character in Ali Smiths dynamic if flawed new novel, 'The Accidental,' is a beautiful 30-ish woman who calls herself Amber. Instead, dazzled by her seeming exoticism, the Smarts begin to examine the accidents of their lives through the searing lens of Amber’s perceptions. Son Magnus, age seventeen, thinks she’s an angel.Īs Amber insinuates herself into the family, the questions of who she is and how she’s come to be there drop away. Daughter Astrid, age twelve, thinks she’s her mother’s friend. Michael, an English professor, knows only that her car broke down. wonderfully enigmatic conclusion.Ali Smith’s acclaimed novel won the prestigious Whitbread Award and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. She stays for dinner.Įve Smart, the author of a best-selling series of biographical reconstructions, thinks Amber is a student with whom her husband, Michael, is sleeping. The Accidental is the dizzyingly entertaining, wickedly humorous story of a mysterious stranger whose sudden appearance during a family’s summer holiday transforms four variously unhappy people. Jonathan Safran Foer has called her writing “thrilling.” Jeanette Winterson has praised her for her “style, ideas, and punch.” Here, in a novel at once profound, playful, and exhilaratingly inventive, she transfixes us with a portrait of a family unraveled by a mysterious visitor.Īmber-thirtysomething and barefoot-shows up at the door of the Norfolk cottage that the Smarts are renting for the summer.

Synopsis: Winner of the Whitbread Award for best novel and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, The Accidental is the virtuoso new novel by the singularly gifted Ali Smith.

The accidental by ali smith