THE FIDDLER IN THE NIGHT
2nd Edition
Book Two of Christian Fennell's Trilogy:
The Real and the Imagined
Published: August 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-1738654802
283 pages
In The Fiddler in the Night, Christian Fennell follows a recently orphaned teenager moving through the haunting landscapes of rural America while attempting to stay ahead of a ruthless and unpredictable killer. Blending emotional realism with mythic undertones, the novel explores violence, longing, memory, and the fragile search for connection within a world shaped equally by tenderness and brutality.
Atmospheric, lyrical, and deeply unsettling, The Fiddler in the Night continues Fennell’s exploration of the blurred boundary between the real and the imagined, while unfolding as both a tragic love story and a meditation on loneliness, survival, and hope.
"Haunting and ethereal, Fennell's stand-alone The Fiddler in the Night is a masterpiece of reflection that is at once gritty, disturbing, and hard to put down."
- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
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"Christian Fennell’s words are honest and sharp, coursing like blood in the veins."
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"A harmonic, artistic style of storytelling at its finest, author Christian Fennell’s “The Fiddler in the Night” is a must-read book for 2021."
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"With a unique writing style, a compelling plot, and some intriguing underlying lessons, this is a fabulous novel. I highly recommend it!"
"Immersive and jarring, The Fiddler in the Night will grip a reader. "
Christian Fennell's, THE FIDDLER IN THE NIGHT, is a return by the author to the raw, abstract, and visceral landscapes set forth in his critically acclaimed collection of short stories, TORRENTS OF OUR TIME.
In his debut novel, Fennell takes the reader on an orphaned teen's journey through the darker recesses of rural America--horrifying, yet compelling--where he tries to stay one step ahead of a ruthless killer. A tragic love story unfolding against a background that is both real and imagined, making this novel as memorable for its language as for its non-stop and blistering storyline.
"This dark coming-of-age story will impress readers with its distinctive writing and intense, at times violent, story."
- Booklife Reviews
"At times THE FIDDLER IN THE NIGHT is a thriller reminiscent of the dark, intense work of Cormac McCarthy. At times it’s a coming-of-age tale, or a precise portrait of middle America. It manages to be all these things, while also telling an absorbing story. This is a cat-and-mouse tale set in grand, lonely landscapes and peopled with characters that feel achingly real. [...] At the same time, the writing is both terse and beautiful. Fennell takes a minimalist approach to description, leading to passages that often read like poetry: only the most telling details, arranged sparsely and cleanly on the page."
- Neon Books, UK
"In essence, the author has created a work of art in word form."
- The US Review of Books
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