A classic myth, retold for a world in crisis
– the startling, poetic new novel from debut author, Matilda Leyser, available 13th April
Spring and summer are my mother’s time, autumn and winter are my husband’s. What is left for me?
Long ago a deal was struck: Persephone was shared between her husband and her mother so that the earth could flourish. For nine thousand years she has done what she is told, but this year, when she climbs to earth, bringing spring, she is growing hungry for a life of her own, her mother is growing frail and now her husband wants her only for himself…..
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‘What a wonderful writer. Matilda Leyser’s work is precise, poetic, hard-edged, rhythmical. It seethes with life, and feels both ancient and brand new.’
DAVID ALMOND, AUTHOR OF SKELLIG
‘Matilda Leyser’s mythic characters are gods and humans all at once; her tale of love and destruction is fuelled by ancient power and rich with contemporary resonance. And what beautiful writing! This striking novel conjures our deepest emotions — our feelings for each other, for the imperilled planet that is our only home. No Season but the Summer is a memorable debut.’
ERICA WAGNER, AUTHOR OF MARY AND MR ELIOT
‘Matilda Leyser’s novel takes the eternal polarities — love and hate, life and death, summer and winter, possibility and impossibility — and brings them crashing together in a tumultuous story of gods living alongside humanity, mother-daughter love and loss, and a glimmer of hope despite it all. In ‘No Season but the Summer‘, our world is still dying, but it is putting up a hell of a fight as it does so, reminding us that we can fight too, and that fighting for our lives might start with listening to the earth.’
STELLA DUFFY, AUTHOR OF THEODORA
About Me
I am many different things, at different times, and sometimes several at once. I am a writer, mother, director, theatre-maker, performer, facilitator, wife, daughter, and a few other roles besides. You can read more about the different things I do on this site, but press below to find out about how I came to write.