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After Many a Summer
After Many a Summer
Jan 17, 2026 4:53 PM

Author:Aldous Huxley

After Many a Summer

Jo Stoyte is afraid of death. But Stoyte is also a millionaire, and so he pours his riches into scientific research, desperate to find the secret of immortality. This ruthless quest will enmesh everyone around him in a web of greed, seduction, murder and debasement. Written while he was living in California, this is Huxley’s response to Hollywood’s superficiality and obsession with youth, a powerful cautionary tale which employs all his customary wit and merciless insight.

Reviews

This is Mr. Huxley's Hollywood novel, and you might expect it to be fantastic, extravagant, crazy and preposterous. It is all that, and heaven and hell too....It is the kind of novel that he is particularly the master of, where the most extraordinary and fortuitous events are followed by contemplative little essays on the meaning of life....The story is outrageously good

—— New York Times

A highly sensational plot that will keep astonishing you to practically the final sentence

—— New Yorker

Mr. Huxley's elegant mockery, his cruel aptness of phrase, the revelations and the ingenious surprises he springs on the reader are those of a master craftsman; Mr. Huxley is at the top of his form

—— Times Literary Supplement

Two Years, Eight Months & Twenty-Eight Nights blends Arabian myth, history and sci-fi into a whirlwind fable.

—— Good Housekeeping

Rollicking, lyrical and very enjoyable tale.

—— Darragh McManus , Irish Independent

A powerful indictment of religious violence.

—— Francesca Wade , Literary Review

Great fun.

—— Fiona Maddocks , Guardian

Sensational… it is unlike not only anything you may have read by Rushdie but by anyone anywhere.

—— Sathnam Sanghera , The Times

The dark delights that spring from his imagination in this novel have a spellbinding energy that has marked the greatest storytellers since the days for Scheherazade.

—— Erica Wagner , Observer

Rushdie writes with a happy exuberance.

—— Allan Massie , Scotman

Fans should be satisfied and newcomers bemused, then enchanted, by the wordsmithery on show.

—— Manchester Evening News

Two Years, Eight Months And Twenty-Eight Nights blends Arabian myth, history and sci-fi into a whirlwind of a fable.

—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping

A mesmerizing modern tale about worlds dangerously colliding, the monsters that are unleashed when reason recedes, and a beautiful testament to the power of love and humanity in chaotic times.

—— Kevin McGough , The Fix

A joyous, fractured fairytale with a cast of thousands and a darkly glittering heart.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

Will no doubt be read for generations to come.

—— Rohan Silva , Evening Standard

Salman Rushdie described a battle between Islamic jinn for a 21st-century Earth.

—— Tim Martin , Daily Telegraph

An energetic return to form pitting reason against religious zeal

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

Magic realism squared […] the most madcap fun you’re likely to have in a book this year.

—— Olaf Tyaransen , Hot Press

I love, love, love the Rushdie – I think it’s my favourite of his… The fantasy elements are just magical and, of course, it’s gorgeously written.

—— Marianne Faithfull , Observer

An apocalyptic battle between reason and unreason, good and evil, light and darkness, with all the bells and whistles of a Hollywood blockbuster.

—— Carlos Fraenkel , London Review of Books

Not only a beautifully written satire-as-fairytale but the subject matter is bang on trend… That Rushdie should still be writing so potently and still be continuing to push back the frontiers, when he could easily pull up a deck chair and languish on the frontiers he already owns is wonderful, inspirational and profoundly (but only in the best way) terrifying… 10/10, Master.

—— Starburst Magazine

Ambitious, smart and dark fable that is full of rich and profound notions about human nature.

—— Katherine McLaughlin , SciFi Now

The Gap of Time takes nothing away from The Winter's Tale. If anything it might add to it, or at least to its resonance and mystery. It is an impressive achievement, especially as Winterson manages the contradictions of comedy and tragedy in a way which suits both their modern likelihood and their moral implications

—— Mary Leland , Irish Examiner

A witty retelling.

—— Joanna Kavenna , Literary Review

Her new story retains the essence of Shakespeare, but filters his comedy and sentiment through feminism and technology.

—— The Culture Trip

Filled with her wit and seriously thought-provoking ideas, Winterson’s writing is a pleasure… This is a well told, beautiful, magical and wonderfully evocative story which resonates with our contemporary lives.

—— Eric Page , Gscene

Vibrates with echoes of Shakespeare’s original.

—— I

Ambitious.

—— Sunday Times

There is a lovely, lilting cadence to the novel… Stylishly done…. Winterson manages against the odds to keep us gripped.

—— Sarah Crown , Guardian

Winterson is on sparkling form in this highly intelligent and daringly imaginative reworking of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale... Witty, clever and bold.

—— Mail on Sunday

Winterson is incapable of being dull, and The Gap Of Time is a fitting addition to her uniquely inventive catalogue.

—— Ellis O'Harrison , Irish Independent

She deftly captures all the magic and raw emotion of the original.

—— Irish Times
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