{"product_id":"five-weeks-in-the-country-a-novel","title":"Five Weeks in the Country: A Novel","description":"From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Reading Like a Writer and Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris, 1932 comes an utterly original novel inspired by the strange friendship between Charles Dickens and Hans Christian Andersen and set during the summer when Dickens's family life exploded.\nIn the summer of 1857, when British newspapers warned of an approaching comet about to destroy the earth, an unusual-looking stranger arrived at Charles Dickens's home, Gad's Hill, in the countryside outside London. Dickens had met Hans Christian Andersen at a dinner party, a decade before, and, in a moment of desperation, had invited him to visit.\nThe visit did not go well. The eccentric Danish author of classic fairy tales, who barely spoke English, outstayed his welcome and alienated the Dickens household, which included nine children. Even the oblivious, obsessively self-conscious Andersen sensed the increasing tension between Dickens and his unhappy wife, Catherine, but was slow to understand—or to believe—that Dickens had fallen in love with a young actress appearing in his new play. For Andersen, those five weeks were a series of social mistakes and embarrassments but ultimately a lesson in how life's most humbling experiences can be transformed into art.\nFive Weeks in the Country, a work of imaginative fiction inspired by actual events, is Francine Prose at her dazzling best.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0063411814\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0063411814.A\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Acceptable\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Prose, Francine\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: This copy has clearly been enjoyed—expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong, and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41575613268026,"sku":"DBV.0063411814.A","price":18.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/five-weeks-in-the-country-a-novel","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}