Eloquence of Desire

The author grew up in Cambridge and Liverpool. She has lived in Japan, Spain and Australia. She now lives in Brighton. Many of her short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies.Amanda has an MA in Creative Writing and Authorship from Sussex University. For this novel she won an award from the Royal Literary Fund.

I have just stumbled onto the nicest surprise - Susan Abraham an atmospheric novel with thought provoking themes - Bookish Magpie A good read - Book Pleasures For those who know me, giving a book a 5 is something I dont do. My belief is if a book receives a 5 rating, it better be worthy of a Nobel Prize in literature. The Eloquence of Desire is one such book. Ms. Sington-Williams has written a book that flows rhythmically, lyrically, like poetry or a song, but touches on every facet of human nature. This is not an easy read. Filled with emotion and every facet of human nature laid bare before the reader, this story will grip your heart and bring your emotions to the foreground. I dont think anyone will come away from this story untouched. - Romance Writers United. Wow! Amazing novel... - Ana Carter, Reviewer, Canada I grew up in Singapore and Malaysia in the 1950s. This book evoked a whole world of sights, smells and sounds. It captured the fear and uncertainty of the times and the very needed stiff upper lips. I recall vividly traveling from Singapore to Ipoh in an armored car and stopping at each armed checked post. Other than that, this was an engrossing read and extremely well done. I found my book club recommendation for this year! - Genene Cote, Reviewer, USA Set in the 1950s, The Eloquence of Desire follows the disintegration of a marriage and combines it with the heady descriptions of life in Ipoh, in Malaya. At the start of the novel we are made aware that George is being punished for an extra marital dalliance with the Bosss daughter, by being sent abroad. Georges wife Dorothy does not wish to accompany him, but for the sake of propriety she agrees to leave their daughter Susan behind at boarding school in England, and goes with George. What then follows is the story of deception, infidelity and heartache. The story is well written and certainly maintains interest throughout with some creative descriptions of life in the tropics. The boredom and languor of the 1950s colonial experience is captured as is the political unrest ... I didnt really warm to the characters except maybe for Susan, who was I think badly treated by both her family, and life in general. - Josie Barton, Reviewer, UK The Eloquence of Desire is an engrossing and atmospheric novel. This story of a married couple in the 1950s banished to Malaya after the husbands affair with the bosss daughter has the sharp edge, clarity and narrative drive of a Somerset Maugham novel. But Amanda Sington-Williams brings her own distinctive voice to the material. The descriptions of Malaya evoke the people, landscape and climate vividly and sensuously. The sounds and smells are almost tangible and there is a palpable background of unease and tension as the political situation constantly threatens to explode into violence. At the same time the writer has a wonderfully compassionate and insightful view of her all too human and believable characters. This is particularly true with George, the husband. On one level, this man is a selfish serial adulterer but we are lead to understand his motives and he emerges as a complex, if fallible, human being. The same understanding is offered to all characters, major and minor. Thoroughly recommended! - Dr. Stephen Wyatt, Award-winning writer of Memorials to the Missing. George is obsessed with the woman he has been having an affair with, but when her father, who is also Georges boss, gets wind of the situation he sends George and his wife off to do company business in Malaya. The couple opt to send their daughter Susan to boarding school. Georges wife, Dorothy is a woman of her time, the 1950's required that a woman kept her mouth shut, even when she knew her husband was being unfaithful. As time passes, Dorothy begins to slip into her own world and George, thought still obsessing over Emily, moves on to a new lover. Susan, meanwhile, is having problems of her own, she begins to hurt herself out of fear and frustration about her parents unhappy marriage. While the characters in this book were a little too self obsessed to generate real sympathy, I believe that that may have been the authors intention. The vivid descriptions of tropical Malaya are evocative of a time and place long gone. An absorbing read. - Rosemary Smith, Librarian, USA