The Echo Chamber facts for kids
First edition, with quote from Ali Smith
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| Author | Luke Williams |
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| Cover artist | gray318 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Hamish Hamilton |
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Publication date
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2011 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 384 |
| ISBN | 0-241-14300-4 |
The Echo Chamber is a book written by Scottish author Luke Williams. It was his very first novel, published in 2011. This book even won an award called the Scottish First Book of the Year prize that same year. A cool fact about this book is that some parts of it, like diary entries from a character named Damaris, were actually written by a friend of the author, Natasha Soobramanien.
What's the Story About?
The story is about a character named Evie Steppman. She is 54 years old and lives in Gullane, Scotland. Evie tells us about her life growing up in the 1940s.
She lived in Lagos, Nigeria, when the British were still in charge. Evie has an amazing sense of hearing. She uses her ears to understand the world around her. Her special hearing ability started even before she was born!
Where Did the Idea Come From?
Luke Williams, the author, shared how he got the idea for the book. He told the Scottish Book Trust that he became interested in Nigeria. This interest started from reading books by Nigerian authors. Some of these authors include Amos Tutuola and Buchi Emecheta.
When he studied history at the University of Edinburgh, he learned about the end of British rule in West Africa. Later, at St Andrews University, he studied Imperial history. He was surprised to learn how much violence was part of colonialism. Colonialism is when one country takes control of another.
For example, he learned about the Benin Massacre. This was a time in 1897 when British forces attacked the Kingdom of Benin. Many people were hurt, and valuable art was taken. Williams felt it was important to share these truths. This feeling made him want to write The Echo Chamber.
