A haunting, enigmatic, Kafkaesque modern fairytale, steeped in visual imagery and consolingly lyrical prose.' The Times
February is persecuting the townspeople. It has been winter for more than three hundred days. All forms of flight are banned and the children have started to disappear, taken from their beds in the middle of the night. The priests hang ominous sheets of parchment on the trees, signed 'February'. And somewhere on the outskirts of the town lives February himself, with the girl who smells of honey and smoke...
In short bursts of intensely poetic language, this beautifully strange and otherworldly first novel tells the story of the people in the town and their efforts to combat the mysterious spectre of February. Steeped in visual imagery, this is a hauntingly enigmatic modern fairy tale - in which nothing is as it seems.
'This slim and absorbing novel reads like a bedtime story that your mother forgot to tell you, and it announces Jones as a stunning new literary voice' -- BlackBook
'Shane Jones's darkly imaginative debut novel was first released last year by a small independent publisher in a print run of 500, it seemed destined to only fall into the hands of a few. But thanks to the literary underground, the novel has quickly garnered a cult following' -- Dazed & Confused
'A gem and a serious contender for best novel of 2010' -- 3am Magazine
'It's hard not to root for Light Boxes' -- Time Out New York
'We expect a vibrant imagination in our authors, but charm is an underrated quality, and Jones has both in spades' -- Time Out Chicago
'Imagination reminiscent of the works of Richard Brautigan' -- The Rumpus
'A strange mix of Richard Brautigan, Italo Calvino, and Jim Henson. Jones has written a tale that is dreamy yet personal, experimental yet accessible. Light Boxes will be important not just for the power of its prose but also, hopefully, because it might give large publishers an excuse to once again take chances on innovative novels by young writers'-- Publishers Weekly
Booktrust- 'With bursts of poetical language, compact language and bursts of emotion, Light Boxes is a beautiful and moving read, striving to burst through situations with light and hope'
Just William's Luck-Savidge Reads- 'The book's 168 small, square, sparse pages would take just the one day to read through and it's amazing how far it's possible to travel in so short a time'
The Bookbag- 'You will have to go a long way to find a more magical and quirky novella than Light Boxes ...... It's a book that shows a deep sympathy for humanity and I can see it being a cult hit. It's well worth checking out'
Follow the Thread- 'What a wonderful read'
Forbookssake.net- 'Beautiful way with language and visual imagery'
Goodreads- 5 Stars - 'Pretty extraordinary'
Savidge Reads- 'A marvellous, escapist read'
Industry Reviews
"Resplendent, and somehow nearly edible, Shane Jones has written the kind of novel that makes you reconsider the word perfect." -Rivka Galchen, author of "Atmospheric Disturbances" "At last, a book that cries out to our inner balloonists. Shane Jones has built a fable that is fresh and surprising, but also familiar in the way that the oldest stories are familiar." -Jedediah Berry, author of "The Manual of Detection" "Reading this book makes you realize what our American literature has been missing. Wholly original, tremendously imaginative, written with the deftest hand, "Light Boxes" makes sense of modern life in the way only dreams can." -Joe Meno, author of "Hairstyles of the Damned" "[T]his literary gem of metaphysical malaise has that ideally weird blend of offputting sensualism and heartfelt emotion-just the sort of thing to ensure a dedicated, if limited, following." -"Booklist"
