August Frost

by Monique Roffey

Book Overview

August Chalmin is a tall, pale, painfully shy young man with blood-orange hair and sun-shy eyes, who hides his awkwardness working behind the counter of the gourmet deli in London's Shepherd's Bush neighborhood. One winter day he finds a rash on his arm that resembles the crystalline frost on his windowpane. Later, snow begins to fall around his head and his fingers turn blue. Is it some rare disease that has triggered this strange reaction, or the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802140467
• ISBN13: 9780802140463
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 402 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

unique story line

I loved this book and actually hated for it to end.......not telling anymore don't want to ruin the story

This book stays with you

Beautifully written story in which the descriptions are so vivid that you can almost smell and taste all the different delicacies in the shop where August works. The characters are very well written and in the end it is almost sad to put the book down. A very enjoyable read - a book that can be read more than once.

A magical highly descriptive book

August Frost was a book I picked up and read one sunny Sunday afternoon sitting in my hammock. I was pleasantly surprised how easy the reading was and soon I was immersed in August's world.I am sure this book is not for everyone. It has made me look at other writers in the genre of magical reality. In the past I have stayed with mainstream SF and fantasy. A comment a friend of mine made was that her vivid description of the buds growing on his body kind of freaked him out. Especially the part where he plucked them off his body and promptly put them in his mouth like a succulent olive with the texture of a brussel sprout. In my case I think there was a fascination, somewhat like August's with the changes in his body. It is his body and mind that grows with the seasons.Her writing, which is sensual, revolves around food, colours and rich metaphors. I enjoyed the creation of August and the convolutions of his mind as we first learn who he is and then with him learn who he is becoming. August reminds me of Thomas Covenant the "un believer" who truly puts himself down but ends up the hero anyway.This is an easy reading novel with many underlying messages, which if you take the time lead you to some thought. The ending threw me as it jumped up and was upon me very suddenly. I thought I had missed it thus I read it again. Monique leaves us to form our own opinions in the end, which is something many novels have not done for me. This is her legacy to us to think and form our own conclusions as to August's future.If your looking for a magical, highly descriptive read with a few messages thrown in then I recommend this book.