‘Each flick of the page suggests the tick of a countdown’ New York Times Books Review
‘Artfully well-orchestrated’ Sunday Times
‘Splendidly tense’ Los Angeles Times
The D-day landings – the fate of millions of men and the entire future of Europe depends on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single morning. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? Will Wallace Ryman, reclusive pacifist and renowned forecaster, divulge his secrets to the team? Can Henry Meadows, a young maths prodigy, save the day? Or will turbulence prove even more elusive than imagined and events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control?
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
‘Artfully well-orchestrated’ Sunday Times
‘Splendidly tense’ Los Angeles Times
The D-day landings – the fate of millions of men and the entire future of Europe depends on the right weather conditions on the English Channel on a single morning. A team of Allied scientists is charged with agreeing on an accurate forecast five days in advance. But is it even possible to predict the weather so far ahead? Will Wallace Ryman, reclusive pacifist and renowned forecaster, divulge his secrets to the team? Can Henry Meadows, a young maths prodigy, save the day? Or will turbulence prove even more elusive than imagined and events, like the weather, begin to spiral out of control?
FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
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Reviews
An artfully well-orchestrated novel about the strange poetry of science
Terrific. . . . A love story, a science send up, and an accurate rendition of how the Normandy landings succeeded. . . . The superior novelist who can warn us of an emotional tempest today and a hurricane of anxiety next week-all by way of describing turbulence in a more limited context-is one to heed
A page-turner that challenges the reader with ideas on every turn. . . . A gripping literary novel. . . . [Foden] has written another original and remarkable book
TURBULENCE is a novel about redemption and overcoming one's own horrific mistakes. . . . A novel of vivid telling and often wondrous images . . . that stays with you, and sinks in deeper than you'd imagine
Fascinating. . . . Foden offers some unforgettable scenes
Characteristically ambitious. . . . Unique. . . . A sideways glance into one of the 20th century's major historical events
Gripping. . . . Splendidly tense. . . . Foden's conspicuously thorough research, the lovely African flashbacks and the many meteorological references all come together dynamically. . . . Ryman is a moody, spellbinding figure, with mystical obsessions-not unlike the central character in John Fowles' THE MAGNUS
Foden is a formidable storyteller. . . . [In TURBULENCE,] it is the meticulous fusion of science and military history that dazzles, coming off like an exhilarating fusion of Richard Powers and John le Carré
Foden is a subtle and careful observer
Each flick of the page . . . suggests the tick of a countdown. The book surges toward its end with enough surprises to grip Foden's readers-and remind them that a life's highest points are never quite as forecast
Foden's most compelling and affecting novel since his debut, combining fascinating research with a high narrative tension. . . . In everything except its titular concern, TURBULENCE is a smooth and stable progression in an intriguing literary career
Masterful. . . . Rivetingly beautiful. . . . There is undoubted brilliance in TURBULENCE: wonderful writing, a flawless period atmosphere . . . and finely drawn characters. . . . One of the most utterly convincing historical novels I've read in some time
Absorbing, elegant and thoughtful. . . . TURBULENCE shines
Giles Foden handles his material with the cool brilliance one would expect from the author of THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. . . . The writing is so good that you don't doubt for a moment that what has been described did happen