Alex Christofi was born in Dorset and read English at the University of Oxford. As well as working as an editor, he writes occasional essays and reviews. His first novel Glass, also published by Serpent’s Tail, was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Betty Trask Prize.
PRAISE FOR GLASS
‘Charming and funny … there’s enough here to show you the author has plenty more to offer and that, like his hero, he definitely has his heart in the right place’ Daily Mail
‘Christofi’s writing really does gleam with wit, inventiveness and an offbeat charm’ Kate Saunders, The Times
‘[An] impressive, tightly paced coming-of-age story … a multilayered story that follows one man’s refracted path through life’s prism’ Financial Times
‘Entertaining and affecting’ Herald
‘A moving, funny coming-of-age tale’ Independent
‘A thoughtful, comic look at an ordinary life lived well’ Guardian
‘A rare novel … rollicking’ Dazed & Confused
‘A tale about growing up, one that’s as funny as it is touching. A talent to keep an eye on’ Shortlist
‘A confident and frequently adroit first novel … enjoyably mercurial and quixotic’ Morning Star
‘Charming, quirky, unexpected … Christofi is a writer to watch. Witty and incredibly inventive’ Saga
‘A promising debut from an intriguing new voice’ We Love This Book
‘With a first novel this good, great things are surely in store for Alex Christofi’ BookHugger
‘A confident, swaggering entrance into the literary world … Skilfully swinging from brilliantly funny to dark morbidity, Christofi displays considerable mastery of his craft … An accomplished opening effort from a writer well worth keeping an eye on’ Hot Press
‘Günter Glass, with his flaws and his limitations, and his belief in the better part of human nature, is a great pleasure to spend time with. I was moved and amused and ultimately comforted by Günter’s sky-reaching spirit and his quest for deeper meaning in a world of transparencies’ Stephen Kelman, author of Pigeon English
‘Glass is a brilliant novel with a first-person narrative voice that’s so natural and understated, I found myself re-reading passages in order to relive emotional experiences that were happening as a result of the gentle, but Nabokovian precision of Alex Christofi’s prose’ Simon Van Booy, author of The Illusion of Separateness
‘Glass was such a pleasure to read, funny, beautiful and perceptive. I found Günter a gentle, endearing hero, a unique little fish in an extremely moving bildungsroman. It struck a deep note about the fleeting nature of existence’ Sara Crowe, author of Campari for Breakfast
LET US BE TRUE
ALEX CHRISTOFI
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Serpent’s Tail,
an imprint of Profile Books Ltd
3 Holford Yard
Bevin Way
London
WC1X 9HD
www.serpentstail.com
Copyright © 2017 by Alex Christofi
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or alive, is coincidental and not intended by the author
A CIP record for this book can be obtained from the British Library
eISBN: 978 1 78283302 4
Whoever believes in freedom of the will has never loved and never hated.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
Paris, 1992
It would be easy to believe, Ralf thought, looking down at the river, that time was in the moment, falling and evading the hands like a down feather. But time was a process of fulfilment: time gathered. One left each moment behind and it rested there. How often had he walked past this spot without knowing he would be standing here today, with all these gathered moments, leaning over the stone wall to watch the river boats?
Part One