Fools of Fortune - Softcover

Trevor, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140069828 ISBN 13: 9780140069822

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1984

Synopsis

Fools of Fortune by William Trevor - a classic early novel from one of the world's greatest writers Winner of the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel of the Year Murder and revenge during the Irish Civil War The Quintons have lived in the old house in Cork for hundreds of years. Though Anglo-Irish Protestant, they sympathize with the cause of independence and secretly fund Michael Collins' fighters. But one of their workers is an informer to the British, and when he's murdered on their land, though they know nothing of it, the Black and Tans come seeking revenge. Till now young Willy Quinton has led a pleasant, cosseted life. But the murder of his father and sisters by British soldiers brings him to a point when he can only contemplate revenge himself. He sets off for Liverpool with hatred in his heart. Will he survive? Will the cycle ever be broken? 'To my mind William Trevor's best novel and a very fine one' Graham Greene William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, in 1928. He spent his childhood in Ireland and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, but has lived in England for many years. An acknowledged master of the short-story form, he has also written many highly acclaimed novels: he has won the Whitbread Fiction Prize three times and been shortlisted for the Booker Prize four times. His most recent novel was Love and Summer (Penguin, 2010).

About this title

About the Author

William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork. He has written many novels, and has won many prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. His most recent novel Love and Summer was longlisted for the Booker Prize. He is also a renowned writer of short stories, and his two-volume Collected Stories was published by Viking Penguin in 2009. In 1999 William Trevor received the prestigious David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement, and in 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature.

From AudioFile

Crowley does a skillful job navigating the variety of English and Irish accents of different classes in this tragedy. Furthermore, the wistfulness that infuses Crowley's reading is so in keeping with Trevor's work. There are elements of comedy and whimsy here, but this novel is mostly about how hatred and revenge during the "Irish troubles" consume possibilities for happiness and familial satisfaction. The imperatives of that conflict all but appropriate the novel's gentle, young hero, Willy Quinton, giving him only a glimpse of the contentment that should have been his. It's an understated novel and reading, which is indelible, as well. M.O. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0140069828
• ISBN 13: 9780140069822
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24