The Night Stages: A Novel - Hardcover

Urquhart, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374222193 ISBN 13: 9780374222192

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015

Synopsis

Set mainly in a remote westerly tip of Ireland in the 1940s and '50s, this stunning new novel from one of Canada's bestselling authors is at once intimate and epic in scope.

Tam, an Englishwoman, has been living in this harshly beautiful region since shortly after World War II, in which she served as an auxiliary pilot. She is now leaving her lover, Niall, who, like his father before him, is a meteorologist. On her way to New York, the airliner she is traveling on becomes grounded by heavy fog at Gander Airport in Newfoundland. As she waits for the fog to clear, she notices an enigmatic mural that moves her to revisit not only the circumstances that brought her to Ireland but her intense relationship with Niall and his growing despondency over the disappearance of his younger brother, Kieran.

We learn of Kieran's troubled childhood and of the tragedy that caused him as a boy to be separated from his family and taken in by a widowed countrywoman who lives in the mountains. There he comes to know the local people, among them a tailor, a fisherman-teacher, and a sheep farmer who is an astonishing philosopher. There is also the jeweler's daughter, a young woman who will come to change the course of several lives.
Running parallel is the story of the painter Kenneth Lochhead and his creation of the mural at Gander that is Tam's only companion through three long days and nights.

An elegiac novel of unusual emotional depth, The Night Stages explores the meaning of separation, the sorrows of fractured families, and the profound effect of Ireland's wild and elemental landscape on lives shaped by its beauty. It is Jane Urquhart's richest, most rewarding novel to date.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Urquhart, one of Canada's best-loved writers, is the author of several internationally acclaimed novels, a collection of stories, and four books of poetry. She is the recipient of numerous international awards, including Le Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in France, the Harboufront Festival Prize, and Canada's Governor General's Award. She lives in Ontario, Canada, and occasionally in Ireland.

Review:

“The acclaimed Canadian writer Jane Urquhart often works within a particular wistful mood-her stories, whether contemporary or historical, are full of dormant hurts, quietly endured; long separations; sorrows. The Night Stages, her tender, meditative eighth novel, again has this tenor, suggestive of John Banville and Alice McDermott . . . It feels like life: a little bigger than any of us on our own, our moments of loneliness less unique than we imagine.” ―Charles Finch, The New York Times

“Thoughtful, multifaceted work. . . . Urquhart-whose prose at times flows from the same hand that has written four volumes of poetry-reveals her characters slowly, placing them within or privy to smaller narratives, vignettes, anecdotes that are themselves small marvels of storytelling and serve the several themes of love's pain, family turmoil, and the elusive sense of home and place, especially in light of Ireland's immigrant history. . . . Masterful.” ―Kirkus Reviews, Starred

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0374222193
• ISBN 13: 9780374222192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416