The Body in the Clouds

Praise for The Body in the Clouds:

“Exquisite…a rich, meditative novel that explores the connectivity of people living in the same geographical space across the distance of time. Through a series of satisfying, recurrent metaphors, Hay weaves her characters’ stories closer, offering an allegory for the commonality of human experience. Her deft touch means that these connections are never forced; rather, they give the feel of a memory, a half-waking dream…Hay’s elegant prose draws warm and textured portraits…from the first aboriginal inhabitants through the early British settlers and into the tumult of modern urban life. Within that sprawl, Hay discovers beauty.”

“Throughout, there’s a slippery feeling that time and place are not fixed in linear fashion but rather stacked from the top down—future on top of present on top of past—and the men can see down to the past and up to the future through tiny gaps in the clouds… This skillfully written tale weaves back and forth between characters, revealing a hint of the connection of humanity through the ages…A finely woven tapestry of poetic language and subtle symbols, intertwined dreams, hopes, and visions, and a sense of seeing through cracks—perhaps to an eternity where time is no more and all is known. Thought-provoking.”

“An unusually imaginative story.”

“Hay’s writing is profusely poetical and lavishly descriptive, and her pace floats along leisurely.”

Praise for The Railwayman's Wife:

“Exquisitely written and deeply felt, The Railwayman's Wife is limpid and deep as the rock pools on the coastline beloved by this book’s characters and just as teeming with vibrant life. Ashley Hay’s novel of love and pain is a true book of wonders.”

“The Railwayman’s Wife is a fine evocation of place and time - a vivid love letter to a particular corner of post-war Australia. Ashley Hay writes with subtle insight about grief and loss and the heart's voyage through and beyond them. It's a lovely, absorbing, and uplifting read.”

“The Railwayman's Wife is a beautifully attentive study of what comes after - after a funeral, after a war - and Ashley Hay is a wise and gracious guide through this fascinating territory. This is a book in which grief and love are so entwined they make a new and wonderful kind of sense.”

“Ashley Hay weaves a moving tale of love, loss and hope.”

“Hay’s poetic gifts are evident in her descriptions of the wild coastal landscape and Roy’s measured verse. This poignant, elegant novel delves into the depth of tragedy, the shaky ground of recovery, and the bittersweet memories of lost love.”

“Multilayered, graceful, couched in poetry, supremely honest, gentle yet jarring, Hay's thought-provoking novel pulls you along slowly, like a deep river that is deceptively calm but full of hidden rapids. Much to ponder.”

“Significant moments are described with astoundingly solid writing, and the coastal setting is beautifully depicted. Previously released to critical acclaim in Australia in 2013 and a 2014 winner of the Colin Roderick Prize in the UK, this second novel from Hay is the kind of slow, ruminative, evocative story that will appeal to devotees of literary fiction.”

“After wow-ing European audiences, this book is coming stateside to dazzle you…Beautifully written, and featuring some excellent passages about writing and reading itself, this book will have you feeling every emotion at once.”

“Hay has lovingly crafted a poignant, character-driven novel filled with heartache and hope, which is transferred to the reader through lyrical prose, poetic dialogue and stunning imagery.”

“A literary and literate gem of a book that leaves you with a set of emotions that I suspect last for a long, long time.”

“This thoughtful, elegant portrait of lives turned inside out and finding the way forward from despair is sure to find a place in the hearts of its audience.”

“The Railwayman’s Wife uses beautiful prose and empathetic characters to tell a story of both hope and heartache.”

"This story is a study in emotion: grief, hope, love, redemption, and yearning. The prose is so elegant that it seems to glide.”

"Hay delicately threads together the lives of a widowed librarian, an unproductive poet, and a guilt-ridden doctor as they grapple with life after loss in post-World War II Thirroul, a small seaside village in New South Wales, Australia."

"[Hay's] prose style is simple yet vivid, and her insights on bereavement and moving forward are wise. Perhaps most impressive is her portrayal of the human predicament, the notion that one's heartfelt hopes are sometimes crushed against the rocks of reality."

“Hay handles the delicate progress of Ani's return to the world with sympathy and toughness; she is an author in whom intellectual scope and empathetic imagination are not separate activities but two sides of the same coin…. recalls the sour-sweet best of Michael Ondaatje's fiction. Another author, Ford Madox Ford, began his The Good Soldier by claiming, 'This is the saddest story.' It isn't. That title rightly belongs to The Railwayman's Wife."

“in this poignant rumination on life, death, memory, dreaming and the anxious spaces in between, it's hard to find fault with a single one of Hay's words, which speak to and provoke our deepest desires for literature to transform and heal us.”

"A scintillating and accomplished debut novel…Hay’s structures and her characters are illuminated by an incandescent intelligence and a rare sensibility.' 

"A gorgeous, Faberge egg of a book, enamelled with literary resonances and rhyming symbols, which we will still be reading decades from now."

Praise for A Hundred Small Lessons:

“A book that overflows with gratitude for the hard, beautiful things of this world, and for the saving worlds of our imagination.”

“A Hundred Small Lessons explores notions of home, family, identity, creativity, aging and our relationship with cities and the natural world.…Hay explores the ways in which we inhabit spaces: building homes and filling them with our possessions, dreams, regrets, fears and secrets. This graceful novel, with its unflinching approach to reality and its gentle undercurrents of sadness, nostalgia and hope, is a highly recommended read for fans of literary fiction.”

“Hay renders the small details of an undramatic, decent life with tenderness that is touching and compelling…a measured piece of writing that works carefully to create pensive and evocative images of time and place and people.”

“Hay’s intelligent scrutiny of the human psyche gives depth to this neatly constructed story.” 

“Deeply affecting…Hay’s unique novel glides like a swan and only after the last page do you realize how deeply you’ve dived.”

“Hay creates a compelling story, charting what it is to be human.”

“Hay explores with considerable empathy and insight the everyday lives of two very different generations…With a lovely attention to the detail of things and feelings, Hay enlists our concern for her characters and an appreciation for the revealing echoes they call up in our own lives.”