Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay - Tapa dura

One of the very best prose stylists and storytellers in the English language. "The Atlantic"

"This gutsy epic is teeming with memorable characters and delicious period details." "Mail on Sunday"

"This tale of a trailblazing female war photographer is clever, inventive and more than the sum of its parts." Fiona Wilson, "The Times"

Superbly written . . . One of the most smoothly readable novels of the year. "The Chicago Tribune "on" Restless"

Its pleasures are countless . . . Supremely entertaining. "The Washington Post Book World "on" Any Human Heart"

Few contemporary writers are able to evoke the ambiance and drama of our recent past as forcefully as Boyd . . . And [his] characters are as beguiling as his prose. "Washington Post Book World "on" Waiting for Sunrise"

Entertaining and seemingly effortless in their fluency, [Boyd's] novels conceal insights into human behavior that are more intricate than may first appear. "The New York Times Book Review, "on" Waiting for Sunrise""

One of the very best prose stylists and storytellers in the English language. The Atlantic

"This gutsy epic is teeming with memorable characters and delicious period details." Mail on Sunday

"This tale of a trailblazing female war photographer is clever, inventive and more than the sum of its parts." Fiona Wilson, The Times

Superbly written . . . One of the most smoothly readable novels of the year. The Chicago Tribune on Restless

Its pleasures are countless . . . Supremely entertaining. The Washington Post Book World on Any Human Heart

Few contemporary writers are able to evoke the ambiance and drama of our recent past as forcefully as Boyd . . . And [his] characters are as beguiling as his prose. Washington Post Book World on Waiting for Sunrise

Entertaining and seemingly effortless in their fluency, [Boyd's] novels conceal insights into human behavior that are more intricate than may first appear. The New York Times Book Review, on Waiting for Sunrise

"One of the very best prose stylists and storytellers in the English language." --The Atlantic

"This gutsy epic is teeming with memorable characters and delicious period details." --Mail on Sunday

"This tale of a trailblazing female war photographer is clever, inventive and more than the sum of its parts." --Fiona Wilson, The Times

"Superbly written . . . One of the most smoothly readable novels of the year." --The Chicago Tribune on Restless

"Its pleasures are countless . . . Supremely entertaining." --The Washington Post Book World on Any Human Heart

"Few contemporary writers are able to evoke the ambiance and drama of our recent past as forcefully as Boyd . . . And [his] characters are as beguiling as his prose." --Washington Post Book World on Waiting for Sunrise

"Entertaining and seemingly effortless in their fluency, [Boyd's] novels conceal insights into human behavior that are more intricate than may first appear." --The New York Times Book Review, on Waiting for Sunrise

When Amory Clay was born, in the decade before the Great War, her disappointed father gave her an androgynous name and announced the birth of a son. But this daughter was not one to let others define her; Amory became a woman who accepted no limits to what that could mean, and, from the time she picked up her first camera, one who would record her own version of events.

Moving freely between London and New York, between photojournalism and fashion photography, and between the men who love her on complicated terms, Amory establishes her reputation as a risk taker and a passionate life traveler. Her hunger for experience draws her to the decadence of Weimar Berlin and the violence of London's blackshirt riots, to the Rhineland with Allied troops and into the political tangle of war-torn Vietnam. In her ambitious career, the seminal moments of the 20th century will become the unforgettable moments of her own biography, as well.

In Sweet Caress, Amory Clay comes wondrously to life, her vibrant personality enveloping the reader from the start. And, running through the novel, her photographs over the decades allow us to experience this vast story not only with Amory's voice but with her vision. William Boyd's Sweet Caress captures an entire lifetime unforgettably within its pages. It captivates.