A pianist falls grandly, helplessly in love in this elegant new novella from the twice-Booker Prize winner JM Coetzee.

Out now from Penguin Random House SA!

Renowned for his sparse yet powerful prose, JM Coetzee is unquestionably among the most influential—and provocative—authors of our time.

With characteristic insight and a ‘brittle wit that forces our attention on the common terrors we don’t want to think about’ (Washington Post), Coetzee here challenges us to interrogate our preconceptions not only of love, but of truth itself.

The Pole tells the story of Witold Walczykiewicz, a vigorous, white-haired pianist who becomes infatuated with Beatriz, a stylish patron of the arts, after she helps organise his Barcelona concert.

Although Beatriz, who is married, is initially unimpressed by Wittold, she soon finds herself pursued and ineluctably swept into his world. As he sends her letters, extends countless invitations to travel, and even visits her husband’s summer home in Mallorca, their unlikely relationship blossoms, though only on her terms.

As the power struggle between them intensifies – is it Beatriz who limits their passion by controlling her emotions? Or is it Witold, trying to force into life his dream of love?

Evocative of Joyce’s ‘The Dead,’ The Pole is a haunting work, evoking the ‘inexhaustible palette of sensations, from blind love to compassion’ (El País) typical of Coetzee’s finest novels.

The Pole is a psychologically probing, compulsively readable novel about love and the mutability of human relationships.

About the author

JM Coetzee’s work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime and The Death of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.

Listen to an excerpt from the audiobook, read by Colin Mace: