Items related to Down by the River
Synopsis
Set in the author's native Ireland, a powerful and passionate novel relates the story of a young girl who becomes pregnant by her father, a situation made worse when it becomes fodder for the mill of church, state, and the town square. Tour.
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Review
A few years ago, Ireland was forced to confront its conscience when a 14-year-old girl, the purported victim of rape, sought an abortion in England. The ensuing legal and moral battles exposed the Emerald Isle's centuries-long struggles over religion, sexuality, and the position of women. Irish writer Edna O'Brien revisits this embattled territory in her novel Down by the River, a bleak, uncompromising chronicle of poverty, unwanted pregnancy, and despair. O'Brien's protagonist is Mary, almost 14 years old and pregnant by her widowed father. In a repressed, judgmental rural world, Mary can tell no one of her plight. Eventually she tries to drown herself, only to be rescued by a neighbor, Betty. When Betty learns the reason for Mary's suicide attempt, she arranges to take her to England for an abortion. Before the operation can occur, Mary is coerced into returning to Ireland and there she becomes the focal point in a ferocious nationwide debate about abortion.
O'Brien is unsparing in her depictions of the economic and emotional poverty in which her characters live, yet she can be surprisingly empathetic toward even the least likeable among them, showing, for example, the tender side of Mary's father even as she exposes his brutality. The book's language is rich and laden with imagery, at times in shocking contrast to the parched lives she describes. Down by the River is just the latest in a long line of fiercely honest books by a fearlessly honest author.
About the Author
Edna O'Brien is the author of 19 books. She was the winner of the 1993 Writers Guild Prize for Fiction. Her biography of James Joyce was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in June 1999. Her recent fiction has been about Irish topics - religion, politics, property. In 2001 her documentary novel, In the Forest - about a brutal murder on the west coast - caused a furore in her native Ireland. It was the subject of a BBC Omnibus film.
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- PublisherGeorge Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd
- Publication date1996
- ISBN 10 0297818066
- ISBN 13 9780297818069
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages265
- Rating
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Down By The River
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Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
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Down By The River
Published by
George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
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Down By The River
Published by
George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
Used
Hardcover
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Down By the River
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ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
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Down By The River
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Condition: Very Good. 1996. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Good clean copy with some shelf wear. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # KCG0003999
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Down By The River
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Condition: Very Good. 1996. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine in fine dustwrapper. Good clean copy with some shelf wear. . . . . Seller Inventory # KCG0003999
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Down by the River
Published by
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
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Seller: Dromanabooks, Newstead, VIC, Australia
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Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 266p, excellent condition; 8vo. Seller Inventory # 1482
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Down By The River
Published by
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
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Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. Hardback. First Edition . First impression. Dust jacket fine. 1996 Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Not price-clipped. Uninscribed Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 000172
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Down By The River
Published by
Weidenfeild & Nicolson, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Jaycee Books., London, United Kingdom
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Very good, blue boards, unclipped, gold embossed gilt spine, minor foxing front edge, top corner d/j bumped ( photo ), bubble wrapped, mylar pro: 5* seller.A controversial novel which challenges the moral standing of the Roman Catholic church in Ireland DOWN BY THE RIVER begins, deceptively, in an idyllic rural setting somewhere in Ireland. By the end, its consequences have addressed and divided the political and judicial fabric of the nation. A crime of passion results in an emotional battlefield for one and all, with opposing factions taking militant sides. In the centre, a young girl struggles with the conflicts of mind and body, the teaching of her faith and her mounting bewilderment at what she might do. This is her rite of passage, a stark progress from the role of child to that of woman; an initiation into terror and beyond it to wisdom. Seller Inventory # ABE-1493223133780
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Down by the River
Published by
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996
ISBN 10: 0297818066
ISBN 13: 9780297818069
Used
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First Edition
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Flat signed by author on the title page, afine copy in its vg unclipped dw. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 011452
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