The Escalator

by Andrew Budden

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Pub Date Jan 01 2023 | Archive Date Apr 15 2023

General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction

Description

It’s amazing where you can roam at the foot of an escalator. William, free to think at the bottom of his, is about to embark on the shocking finale to his mysterious search.
There’s much else to ponder, too. There’s his love for the barbed Cas. And who’s the woman he meets every week claiming to be his daughter? There’s the past he pictures of flying, TV, spiritual and sporting glory. But how does the ordinary life he remembers at the steelworks sit with being confidant to Marlon Brando and Michael Jordan, Brookside scriptwriter and Concorde’s chief test pilot?
Can William resolve the conflicts of a brilliant, riotous mind to stop self-destruction? Are we all on the same track?

This literary novel confronts love and isolation, freedom and focus, reality and imagination with tragi-comic craftsmanship.

Content note from the publisher

As a valued reader and reviewer on NetGalley, your time is valuable. Before considering this book, you need to know roughly what you are in for! The novel is realistic, literary fiction for adult readers. There are philosophical and literary interests arising from city and family life. The piece is set in the UK over the last fifty years and concerns aspects of a whole life, death included. It is in the nature of literary fiction that it follows no particular formula. It may surprise you, annoy you, even shock you.

The piece makes no compromises for the reader and includes multiple timelines. With any luck, it will take you in new directions. If you prefer other fiction categories, which are just as valid, such as action and adventure, crime, erotica, fantasy, romance, horror, mystery, detective stories, science fiction or thrillers – or you are only interested in fiction from a different country – please put the book down now!

Other issues in the content that could offend you are some limited swear words and the expression of non-conventional religious ideas, including agnosticism and atheism. The book also concerns madness and delusion. If you are uncomfortable with any of this in your fiction, please do not read or ask to read this book. Other books will be a better use of your precious time.

On the other hand, if The Escalator sounds like a book that you might enjoy, it would be wonderful if you could request it, or download it here, and review it honestly. It will be fascinating to learn of your reading journey through the book's pages. Novels need readers, just as paintings need viewers.

Advance Praise

"Despite its melancholic tone, the story and its characters prove to be endearing. William, for example, is characterized as someone who nurtures a deep desire to help others, and even to save the world, and his wife and daughter are shown to indisputably and unconditionally love their family members." ― Kirkus Reviews

"As the cast cycles around each other's vantage points, they suggest a new way of seeing all together—one that's both sensible and not. The plot becomes a protracted thought experiment. It taxes, probes, and pushes the boundaries of the genre, using the family's abiding love for each other to suggest a sympathetic outlook on the world at large." ― Foreword Clarion Reviews

"Difficult timeline aside, this story should appeal to careful readers who enjoy smart conversations and contemplation of life's bigger questions." ― BlueInk Review

"From celebrity connections and dizzying heights down to the bare bones of interpersonal relationships, family, and love, this heartfelt psychological drama discusses the nature of what is truly real and what ought to matter most in our lives." ― Readers' Favorite

"Despite its melancholic tone, the story and its characters prove to be endearing. William, for example, is characterized as someone who nurtures a deep desire to help others, and even to save the...

Marketing Plan

Data

Name: Budden, Andrew, author

Title: The Escalator

Description: Contemporary British literary fiction – a novel

Publishing Date and Release Date: January 1st, 2023

Paperback: Print length: 260 pages | Language: English | Publisher: Editstream Press | Dimensions: 5.25″ (133mm) x 8″ (203mm) Spine: 0.58840 in (14.95 mm).

Hardcover Large Print Edition: Print length: 548 pages | Language: English | Publisher: Editstream Press | Dimensions: 6.140" x 9.210" (234mm x 156mm) Spine: 1.37500 in (34.92 mm)

Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-7397391-0-2 (paperback) | ISBN 978-1-7397391-1-9 (hardcover, large print) | ISBN 978-1-7397391-2-6 (ebook)

Reading age: 18 years and up.
Target Readers: Adults interested in contemporary, realistic, literary fiction.

BISAC Subject Headings:

    FIC019000 FICTION / Literary
    FIC098060 FICTION / World Literature / England / 21st Century
    FIC025000 FICTION / Psychological
    FIC051000 FICTION / Cultural Heritage
    FIC045000 FICTION / Family Life / General
    FIC069000 FICTION / City Life
    FIC039000 FICTION / Visionary & Metaphysical
    FIC080000 FICTION / Multiple Timelines

BIC Subject Category:

    FA Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Thema:

    FBA Modern & contemporary fiction
    FXM Narrative theme: interior life
    FS Family life fiction