Fifty Days

by Sarah Quigley

In the middle of a city, in a deserted apartment block, a woman lives, alone. She has just fifty days to complete her self-imposed task. Bustling into her apartment each day strides a girl with tiger hair and pink satin leggings, sparkling with the Candy Girl is the woman's only contact with the outside world, and essential to her lonely task. This solitary existence she has chosen becomes less possible as each day passes. From the window opposite she sees a crippled man watching her, and as they furtively observe one another, their lives become inextricably linked. Warding off the past, the woman works relentlessly, her deadline looming closer day by day, but memory invades, melding with the present, and her tragedy unfolds . .

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

There is more than one author with this name
Born in New Zealand, Sarah Quigley is a novelist and non-fiction writer. She has a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. Her work has been widely published and she has received several high-profile awards.

She has published several novels, two collections of short fiction and poetry, and a creative writing manual. Her new novel, The Conductor, tells the story of the writing of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony and its historic performance in besieged Leningrad in 1942.

Quigley lives and works in Berlin.

Reviews

[Tarfah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Quigley, for me, has just joined the ranks of my "favorite authors". After reading Fifty Days I would not hesitate to pick up one of her novels.

In spite of the fact that this book took me forever to read, i found it deeply intriguing as well as deeply moving. The author's style and the way she just, oh-so-quietly and unobtrusively, weaves her way into your emotions so that you actually FEEL what the characters are going through is amazing. In this ability to generate the reader's empathy she reminds me of Jhumpa Lahiri, but on a different level.

The story, the significance of the 50 days, is something that you are left in suspense over until the very end of the book. Leading to this point, the author beautifully puts together a jigsaw puzzle of information about the characters, and her prose is so eloquent that you actually can see, in your mind's eye, the scenes and scenarios being described.

Beautifully written and a great story. Definitely recommend

Note: a bit graphic at times!

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am emotionally wrung out after finishing this book.
It started eaily enough, a little intriguing as I worked out what was happening, and got to know the two main characters. I found it almost comic at times in the early chapters. And Quigley's prose! Such a good writer, I had to re-read sentences at times just to savour them.
But gradually little hints are dropped that things are darker than they seem, and a sense of some great misfortune in the past builds up.
As the pressure on one character builds up, to finish her task in the fifty days allotted to her, there is a great sense of urgency. But the book becomes harder to read, and ironically my reading slowed down as the character's work becomes frenzied.
The ending is shattering. And it's a book that will live with me for a long time. Would I recommend it? Yes, definitely. But not to everyone, and even then with caution.

[Rosie Garner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once begun I finished this book to find out the why. I skimmed passages as I felt some dragged while I read others intently. Some were beautifully written. I know the why, but not enough, I’m left wanting. Obviously this is what the author intended.

[B. Tollison · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to talk about this novel, at least in any meaningful way, without giving away spoilers. Nevertheless, I will try.

This is quite an intense character study. The book maintains a somber and melancholic tone throughout. Moments of joy, past and present, have an air of listlessness and the themes of grief and isolation are very much present throughout the entire novel. As in most character studies, there are numerous digressions and flashbacks and the subject matter and plot are approached obliquely. That being said, every word and sentence feels meticulously crafted. There is definite intent within every aspect of the story's structure.

The book's synopsis stresses that there is a strong voyeuristic aspect to the story. This is not necessarily between characters within the story itself but more between the reader and protagonist, Gest. Throughout the novel, Quigley adopts an experimental narrative style where the author directly acknowledges the reader as a witness to the unfolding events – both past and present. You might think this creates an unnecessary distance between the reader and the characters but I found it had the opposite effect. Just as Gest is undertaking her project and revealing more and more of her subject as she goes, so the narration reveals more and more of Gest and the Candy Girl, of how their lives have been molded and shaped into their current state. Despite their differences and the diverging trajectories of their lives the two main characters have a genuinely interesting dynamic and their contrasting personalities adds some much-needed texture to the book's tone.

I feel Quigley manages to largely avoid romanticizing 'the suffering artist'. The emotional touchstones of Gest's memories that grant meaning to her artistic expression are explored honestly and her self-imposed isolation and self-destructive habits aren't depicted as things any sane person should desire but nevertheless have a logical and traceable source.

The last 50 pages flow more like a thriller novel. The timing of this subtle shift in tone was perfect and really provided a satisfying pay-off to the small details and rich character development laid out in the previous pages. Some of the details are given, at least enough to give a speculative guess at what the outcome might be but nevertheless the intrigue of the outcome draws the story forward more than I was expecting given the tone of the majority of the novel. The story could have easily wandered off into some vaguely high concept, unnecessarily ambiguous conclusion but it doesn't and I very much appreciate the grounded and definitive ending that honours the artistic truth that Gest herself was seeking when she began her project.

[Taygus · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Trigger, but also major spoiler Child Death ; Suicide *

I read this book some years ago, and found the plot memorable.

I re-read it, as I wasn't certain if this was the book I remembered.

It starts off quite slow and I didn't like the way the author depicted the scenery. It was like bullet points for a movie, but the imagery used, is unusual and the author improves as you go on.
Fair warning, the author never once uses quotation marks for dialogue, but I never really missed them either.

I disliked the author telling the reader their thoughts.
"You do not care about any of this, but by stumbling in late you have missed something vital. You are an onlooker still, and you wish to be a participant. You must catch up".
This use of "you", pointed at the reader, came across as presumptuous or straight out false.

However using this quote, it reminds me...this is exactly what S. Quigley manages to do. At the start of the book, you feel like on an onlooker, indifferent to the characters story. By the end of it, you are feeling the shock and suspense that she creates surprisingly well.

The book starts off with very short chapters, which increases in length s the story unfolds. They always feel the right length for the chapter.

I found by the time I got a 1/3rd of the way through the story, I was very curious to the history of our main character, our sculptor.
And the ending hit like a gust.

I would not hesitated to try another of Quigley's books.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most bizarre books I have read, unrecognisable from the author of The Conductor. Improved as it went but not engaging initially.