Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty (English) Paperback Book

Description: Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly from their home in Scotland to Amsterdam for a long weekend. A holiday to refresh the senses, and generally to take stock of what remains of their lives. Their relationship seems safe, easy, familiar - but over the course of the four days we discover the deep uncertainties which exist between them. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description An intense exploration of love and uncertainty when a long-married couple take a midwinter break in Amsterdam.A Guardian / Sunday Times / Irish Times / Herald Scotland / Mail on Sunday Book of the YearWinner of the Bord Gais Novel of the YearMidwinter Break is a work of extraordinary emotional precision and sympathy, about coming to terms - to an honest reckoning - with love and the loss of love, with memory and pain...this is a novel of great ambition by an artist at the height of his powers Colm T ibinA retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly to Amsterdam for a midwinter break. A holiday to refresh the senses, to see the sights and to generally take stock of what remains of their lives. But amongst the wintry streets and icy canals we see their relationship fracturing beneath the surface. And when memories re-emerge of a troubled time in their native Ireland things begin to fall apart. As their midwinter break comes to an end, we understand how far apart they are - and can only watch as they struggle to save themselves. Notes A tender, intimate and heart-rendering story, this is a profound examination of the love between two humans and how we live together. Author Biography Bernard MacLaverty lives in Glasgow. He has written five previous collections of stories and five novels, including Grace Notes, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Midwinter Break, the Bord Gais Energy Irish Novel of the Year. He has written versions of his fiction for other media - radio and television plays, screenplays and libretti. Review Its portrayal of the tightening vice of alcohol addiction is unparalleled. But its profound exploration of its love, companionship, faith, work and our search for meaning in life made it a tender masterpiece, and one of the years essential reads. -- Justine Jordan * Guardian, **Books of the Year** *MacLaverty doesnt publish novels very often but when he does they are outstanding. -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times, **Books of the Year** *A gem of a novel. -- Allan Hunter * Herald Scotland, **Books of the Year** *Alive with utterly convincing actuality, this affecting, funny and acute book is a triumph of quiet masterliness. -- Peter Kemp * Herald Scotland, **Books of the Year** *Its an immersive and astonishing book. -- Jackie Kay * Herald Scotland, **Books of the Year** *[An] intense, emotionally vivid portrait of an elderly couples relationship in crisis. -- James Marriott * The Times, **Books of the Year** *A marriage under strain after 40 years? A mini-break marred by bitter cold weather? An escapist dream thats about to be nixed by reality? Gloomy though it sounds, this warm, intimate portrait of ageing love is one of the wittiest, wisest novels of the year. * Mail on Sunday, **Books of the Year** *Midwinter Break is a work of extraordinary emotional precision and sympathy, about coming to terms - to an honest reckoning - with love and the loss of love, with memory and pain. Full of scenes that are rendered with exquisite accuracy and care, allowing the most detailed physical descriptions to be placed against the possibility of a rich spiritual life, this is a novel of great ambition by an artist at the height of his powers. -- Colm TóibínA quiet, brilliantly written novel that packs a tremendous punch. -- Penelope LivelyAn artist with a subtle feel for the ordinary, MacLavertys wry, outstanding novel about the tests that time, age and life impose on love resonates with humanity and emotional intelligence. -- Eileen Battersby * Financial Times *MacLaverty is a sweetly astute writer, a master of fine detail, compassing the quotidian, the intimate and the sacred. Midwinter Break shows us how ordinary and immense love can be. -- Anne EnrightMacLavertys prose is deceptively simple and rewardingly straight-forward and efficient. But what he writes about in this much anticipated novel – the resilience and stress-lines of human love experienced over much time – is anything but simple and straight-forward. Its the stuff of life. -- Richard FordAs always in MacLavertys pages, everything is alive with absorbing actuality. Characterisation has total credibility. Dialogue is pitch-perfect. Both Stella and Gerry are likeable and admirable… Ripples of wit and shrewd perception play over the novels scenes. Intelligent relish of lifes pleasures is appealingly conveyed… Damage done by toxic ideology is the persisting theme in all MacLavertys fiction. And he has never dealt with it more powerfully, subtly and affectingly than here. -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *It is extraordinary how his blunt, declarative sentences translate the fiddly minutiae of life… into utterly gripping prose… This unflinching attention to the textural detail of minute-by-minute existence slowly builds into a profound exploration of the biggest themes in both public and private life… A remarkable late flowering... This is a quietly brilliant novel, which makes for essential reading at any stage of life. -- Justine Jordan * Guardian *MacLaverty draws out his characters with great patience… The comfort and pattern of their relationship particularly shine in their dialogue, which is so good its film-ready… Throughout, the ride is enlivened by some beautiful writing. -- Miranda France * Literary Review *An exceptionally good book, beautifully and intelligently written, well worth waiting for… He writes with an unfailing and generous sympathy… Everything rings true… MacLaverty is a master of the significant detail. -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *Bernard MacLaverty shows a couple out of their element, so everything they see is something to note and enjoy… MacLaverty may be one of the last writers who can tell us what it is like to be a true Catholic… Midwinter Break is a touching, hopeful portrait of loves complexity, written by a master craftsman, from the fullness of his heart. -- Anne Enright * Irish Times *Midwinter Break… has MacLavertys trademark clarity and some tremendous turns of phrase. -- Kenny Farquharson * The Times *In this sympathetic, frequently witty portrait of ageing love… You wont find a sharper, more intimate delineation of what marriage really adds up to. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday *Bernard MacLavertys first novel in 16 years is a heart-rending analysis of the weary affection and annoyances of a long marriage in its fragile twilight years. -- John Harding * Daily Mail *A novel written with such subtlety and finesse youre hardly aware of the artifice that enabled you to get inside the minds of this loving, unhappy couple. -- John Boland * Belfast Telegraph Morning *Exquisitely written and profound. -- Una Brankin * Belfast Telegraph Morning *Its a very intimate portrait of a relationship between two older people… The best, and most moving, parts are flashbacks to their experiences during the Troubles. * UK Press Syndication *Masterfully alternating the point of view of the book between them, he observes with his careful, forensic eye the habits of a long relationship, the shared memories, routines and irritations… Under MacLavertys careful, compassionate spotlight, we see the cracks beneath the surface, the way in which even those closest to us remain somehow unknowable… The best qualities of MacLavertys writing are present in Midwinter Break: the kind but unflinching eye, the unfussy description, which has a clarity which feels artless, but is not. -- Susan Mansfield * Scotsman *The writers generation will read it with wistful appreciation, and more than shudder at bad memories. Even before he shook loose the curse of Northern Irelands communal obligation for life in Islay and Glasgow, MacLaverty wrote beautifully. Across his wide later range his filmic gift of dialogue and scene-setting is constant. -- Fionnuala OConnor * Irish News *His finest to date… Good fiction sheds light too, illuminating the peculiar facets that make up the human condition. MacLavertys novel casts such a glow, and creates effects that prove to be both compassionate and compelling. -- Malcolm Forbes * Herald Scotland *In his first novel for 16 years, he provides thrilling proof that hes lost none of his ability to tackle big issues in a way thats unfailingly quiet and unfussy, but that ends up being completely piercing… The result is a pin-sharp but ultimately compassionate portrait of the frustrations and pleasures of a long marriage – and of how closely the two things are linked. -- James Walton * Readers Digest *MacLaverty has always been his own man and his quietly penetrating insights yield many moments of recognition. -- Ellis OHanlon * Irish Independent *Compellingly spot on. -- David Robinson * Scotsman *It is paced flawlessly, is lapidary of structure, and is delivered with a purpose and clarity and control that can shut out the noise of the world, of your own heartbeat, even: one of those precious books that, when at last you look up from its pages, you need a moment of re-adjustment, of decompression, so immersive is it… This is an achingly sad book, and essential in its sadness. It is illuminated with skill and application and labour and something very like love. -- Niall Griffiths * Spectator * Promotional An intense exploration of love and uncertainty when a long-married couple take a midwinter break in Amsterdam. Prizes Winner of Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards - Eason Novel of the Year 2017 (UK) Short-listed for Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year 2017 (UK) Short-listed for Kerry Group Novel of the Year 2018 (UK) Long-listed for Wellcome Book Prize 2018 (UK) Review Text Its portrayal of the tightening vice of alcohol addiction is unparalleled. But its profound exploration of its love, companionship, faith, work and our search for meaning in life made it a tender masterpiece, and one of the years essential reads. Review Quote Its portrayal of the tightening vice of alcohol addiction is unparalleled. But its profound exploration of its love, companionship, faith, work and our search for meaning in life made it a tender masterpiece, and one of the years essential reads. Promotional "Headline" An intense exploration of love and uncertainty when a long-married couple take a midwinter break in Amsterdam. Details ISBN1784704911 Author Bernard MacLaverty Publisher Vintage Publishing Year 2018 ISBN-10 1784704911 ISBN-13 9781784704919 Format Paperback Imprint Vintage Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Media Book Pages 256 Publication Date 2018-01-04 DEWEY 823.914 Language English UK Release Date 2018-01-04 AU Release Date 2018-01-04 NZ Release Date 2018-01-04 Alternative 9781473546714 Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:117293522;

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