As Little As Nothing: A Novel
$12.99-
“A buoyant and affecting portrait of four disparate souls striving to become their true selves on the cusp of major social change.” — Kathleen Winter, author of Undersong
“With intimacy, acuity, and grace, Pamela Mulloy captures the complex inner lives of her characters, who yearn to become themselves as England lurches into war.” — Jack Wang, author of We Two Alone
It is 1938 and rumours of a coming war are everywhere. On a quiet morning in September outside a small town in England, a plane crashes and four people are brought together in the aftermath. Miriam, a young woman devastated by multiple miscarriages, rises from her bed and hurries to the scene. There she meets Frank and together they pull the wounded pilot, Peter, from the wreckage. Miriam soon meets Frank’s aunt Audrey, the family rebel, who has refused to marry and travels the country as a reproductive-rights activist.
It is Frank who teaches Miriam to fly. As Miriam prepares to co-pilot with Frank in a prestigious air race from London to Manchester, she uses flight to escape from confronting her inability to bear children. Miriam is also drawn into Audrey’s activism, and the women dig in even as the looming war threatens to set back their cause.
Rich with historical detail, As Little As Nothing beautifully explores themes of resistance, the strength of new bonds, and the various ways we reinvent ourselves.
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Pamela Mulloy’s debut novel, The Deserters, was published in 2018 and shortlisted for the ReLit Award. She is the editor of The New Quarterly and director of the Wild Writers Literary Festival. She has lived in Poland, England, and the U.S., and currently resides in Kitchener, ON, with her husband and daughter.
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Published: October 2022
ISBN: 9781770416369Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 in.
Pages: 280
Reviews
“A buoyant and affecting portrait of four disparate souls striving to become their true selves on the cusp of major social change.” — Kathleen Winter, author of Undersong
“As Little As Nothing was a lovely read on a warm summer day, and it was also a reminder that women have been fighting for decades and will continue to fight, for agency and the right to make decisions about our bodies … A beautiful story that is at once timely and timeless.” — Urban Info Girl blog
“Mulloy has crafted a well-researched novel at an important moment prior to World War II … this is not a novel to rush through, but rather a story to be relished one page at a time.” — The Miramichi Reader
“Mulloy crafts her narrative with skill, brilliantly evoking each character’s vivid, sensual individuality...Mulloy’s novel gifts us with a splendid portrait of a unique time and place, as well as a group of people who lived, loved, and struggled with ferocious intensity, each emanating vital singularity.” — Literary Review of Canada
“With intimacy, acuity, and grace, Pamela Mulloy captures the complex inner lives of her characters, who yearn to become themselves as England lurches into war. Soaring and kaleidoscopic, As Little As Nothing is both a beautiful evocation of the past and a novel for our times — a clarion call for the right of women everywhere to choose their own destiny.” — Jack Wang, author of We Two Alone
“Mulloy gracefully captures the lives of two women who, against the backdrop of a looming war, must reinvent themselves. Like the best historical fiction, As Little As Nothing helps illuminate the issue of reproductive rights by shining a light on the past.” — Claire Cameron, author of The Last Neanderthal
“The characters in this novel are well drawn and complex in their motivations, dreams, regrets about their pasts, and fears for their futures. Mulloy’s writing is tight; readers are immediately drawn into these people’s lives. The backdrop of England at the dawn of a new war is vivid and compelling.” — The Historical Novel Society