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Things Fall Apart: Flesh, by David Szalay, reviewed

The fluctuating fortunes of an ambitious young Hungarian in London provide a gripping study of the choices that can make or break a life

8 March 2025

9:00 AM

8 March 2025

9:00 AM

Flesh David Szalay

Jonathan Cape, pp.368, 18.99

London and the South East, The Innocent, Spring, All That Man Is, Turbulence – the titles of David Szalay’s first five novels, which won a flurry of prizes, are all captured, in a sense, by Flesh, his sixth. Much of the latest book is set in Britain’s capital, and the innocent frequently lose that tag as its protagonist battles to advance his position.

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