Days of Drowning

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF THE LONG TAKE

In the ruins, a painter sketches a rough sleeper. Reminded of his dead daughter, he rescues this strange figure, bringing him back with him to Venice.

Opening among the pinks and golds of the 18th century, this is the story of a threatened and threatening world. Taking in the decline and fall of the Venetian Empire, the convulsions of the French Revolution and the disintegration of Spain, we follow the hidden lives, the private craft, of three great artists: Tiepolo, Piranesi and, in particular, Goya.

Amid this turmoil, trying to make sense of rapid change, of ruination, these three are joined from the margins by Nell – a refugee, an observer, a fragile savant, a Pulcinella, a Trickster – whose very mutability seems the only way to secure any future in a shifting world.

A multi-voiced hybrid, dramatic and atmospheric, Days of Drowning is a new way of telling a story. An historical novel with the music and depth of poetry, an intimate study of singular artists struggling to create and survive – a tale of pandemics, wars and revolutions, dynasties and dictators, power, corruption and social collapse that speaks vividly, memorably, to our current moment.

PRAISE FOR THE LONG TAKE

‘A masterly work of art’ -John Banville
‘An inter-genre tour de force . . . A ravishing achievement’ - Ocean Vuong
‘Bold, brilliant, filled with wonderful imagery and meticulously researched' - Ian Rankin
'By the time you have finished reading it, you won’t quite be the same’ - Elif Shafak
‘All of Robertson’s extraordinary gifts as a writer are on display here’ - Kevin Powers