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Making Love: A Conspiracy of the Heart
He was out of her league. She was out of her depth.
When Miranda, the Miss Lonely Hearts of Shepherd's Bush, suddenly finds herself romanced by a tall, dark and deadly spy, she finds her life turned upside down. Could it have anything to do with the book she innocently took from the library, a book with a conspiracy theory about 'love' so devastating that every other copy has been destroyed by MI5 and the writer 'disappeared'?
Spliced through Miranda's romantic adventure are pages from the 'lost' book itself. But the loudest voice in this piece of postmodern madness belongs to the lovelorn book itself, a sentient mass of paper and ink that cannot help falling in love with its reader.
Marius Brill's send-up of po-faced conspiracy stories, spy thrillers and pulp romance is as sharp as Tom Sharpe - imagine Umberto Ecco with a sense of humour. Ludicrously logical and finely spun, this is hare-brained literary fantasy, an erudite romp, and above all, a novel to fall in love with ...
When Miranda, the Miss Lonely Hearts of Shepherd's Bush, suddenly finds herself romanced by a tall, dark and deadly spy, she finds her life turned upside down. Could it have anything to do with the book she innocently took from the library, a book with a conspiracy theory about 'love' so devastating that every other copy has been destroyed by MI5 and the writer 'disappeared'?
Spliced through Miranda's romantic adventure are pages from the 'lost' book itself. But the loudest voice in this piece of postmodern madness belongs to the lovelorn book itself, a sentient mass of paper and ink that cannot help falling in love with its reader.
Marius Brill's send-up of po-faced conspiracy stories, spy thrillers and pulp romance is as sharp as Tom Sharpe - imagine Umberto Ecco with a sense of humour. Ludicrously logical and finely spun, this is hare-brained literary fantasy, an erudite romp, and above all, a novel to fall in love with ...
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Marius Brill
3 books9 followersMarius Brill attended St John's College, Oxford, after a career as a doorman, journalist and prize-winning playwright at the Soho Theatre. The script of his film, Diary of a Surreal Killer, was nominated for a BAFTA Carl Foreman award. His comic radio series, sLaughter in the Dark, played to critical acclaim on Radio Four. Making Love: A Conspiracy of the Heart is his first book.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 25, 2014
This book is... funny, absurd, clever, different, totally improbable, self-depracating, completely at odds with conventional novels and...a brilliant read!
After a rather slowish start (later explained by the book itself, which is its own narrator and makes comments about itself along the way), the story unfolds, involving a set of wacky characters : a totally sploppy romantic heroine who earns her living as a sanitary napkins demonstrator, a supposedly heartless & ruthless "dark, handsome and mysterious" secret agent, a useless stalker who looks like Trotsky, a flirtatious type who gets dismembered along the way, a next door neighbour (aptly named Tony Fromnextdoor) who is full of surprises and a gondolier named Guido...among others!
Marius Brill loves to play with words and language and the result is brilliantly funny (the crazy MI5 meeting in the jungle office is hilarious).
This is one wacky book, I loved it!
After a rather slowish start (later explained by the book itself, which is its own narrator and makes comments about itself along the way), the story unfolds, involving a set of wacky characters : a totally sploppy romantic heroine who earns her living as a sanitary napkins demonstrator, a supposedly heartless & ruthless "dark, handsome and mysterious" secret agent, a useless stalker who looks like Trotsky, a flirtatious type who gets dismembered along the way, a next door neighbour (aptly named Tony Fromnextdoor) who is full of surprises and a gondolier named Guido...among others!
Marius Brill loves to play with words and language and the result is brilliantly funny (the crazy MI5 meeting in the jungle office is hilarious).
This is one wacky book, I loved it!
July 9, 2024
Marius Brill’s ‘How to Forget’ is my favourite novel. Brill’s style and approach is unlike any other, mixing unusual post-modern structure, terrible punning, deeply sympathetic, utterly messed-up characters, and plots that leap around the world. And this…this novel is equally, utterly extraordinary, compelling, ridiculous, heartbreaking, heartwarming, toe-curling, daft and brilliant.
January 25, 2021
Brilliant and funny
July 13, 2011
Don't judge a book by its cover or its title people!!!
This a mad book at the end. I loved the premise (the book tells the story) and the "one dress" worn by Miranda. A delightful set up, well told and as I say, bonkers at the end, but great, great fun. I read it years ago and suddenly thought of it the other day (I know not why) and have now got my mits on a copy all of my own (thank you Amazon marketplace).
This a mad book at the end. I loved the premise (the book tells the story) and the "one dress" worn by Miranda. A delightful set up, well told and as I say, bonkers at the end, but great, great fun. I read it years ago and suddenly thought of it the other day (I know not why) and have now got my mits on a copy all of my own (thank you Amazon marketplace).
November 6, 2011
Utterly absurd and quite surreal – a novel about and narrated by a book about love so dangerous that the powers that be are out to destroy every copy that exists. Classifiable only as a cracker of book, and yet amid the potential for utter confusion Brill manages to keep our it all under control (even in the moments of most outrageous James-Bondesque excess - yip, absurdity, conspiracy, adventure and romance, all in one).
September 27, 2010
I love this book ... once you get to grips with how it's written ... it's fantastic ... a very gripping and funny read
One of those books when you're browsing through your bookshelf ... you look at and smile ... it's one of those books when you're reading it which will make you go: "ooo", "ahhh", "no!!!", "eeek, i can't believe you did/said that !!!"
One of those books when you're browsing through your bookshelf ... you look at and smile ... it's one of those books when you're reading it which will make you go: "ooo", "ahhh", "no!!!", "eeek, i can't believe you did/said that !!!"
April 8, 2015
I loved it, changed my life. Aside from that, who is Marius Brill?
I think he is really Jasper Fforde in disguise
I think he is really Jasper Fforde in disguise
September 11, 2016
A surreal comic fantasy. Fast, funny, clever and entirely unpredictable. I loved it.
April 7, 2023
One of my favourite books. The Shepherds Bush library and bedsit settings helped!
October 23, 2013
Awesome!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews