The Leavetaking - Softcover

McGahern, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571225705 ISBN 13: 9780571225705

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2009

Synopsis

A day, crucial and cathartic, in the life of a young Catholic schoolteacher who has returned to Ireland after a year's sabbatical in London where he married an American divorcee. As a result he now faces certain dismissal by the school authorities. Moving from the earliest memories of both the man and the woman, the novel recreates their breaking of the shackles of guilt and duty into the acceptance of a fulfilling adult love.

About this title

About the Author:

John McGahern (1934–2006) was the author of six novels, including The Dark and Amongst Women (winner of Ireland’s GPA Book Prize), four volumes of short stories, and a memoir. He received numerous awards, including Ireland’s most prestigious literary prize, the AE Memorial Award.

Review:

A luminous novel of love and acceptance in twentieth-century Ireland—by "one of the best stylists in English prose" -- Newsweek

He has transformed situations and scenes common in experience into something rich and strange, something uncommonly beautiful. -- The Sunday Independent, London

McGahern brings us the tonic gift of the best fiction, the sense of truth—the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own. -- John Updike

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0571225705
• ISBN 13: 9780571225705
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176