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Loving And Giving - Virago Modern Classics
Loving And Giving - Virago Modern Classics
paperback
Published:
1 June, 2006
Description
FROM THE SHORTLISTED AUTHOR FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
'Molly Keane is astonishing . . . an exquisitely written black comedy with a shock ending' GUARDIAN
'Quite the best book she has written' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'I admired many authors. But Molly, I loved' DIANA ATHILL
In 1914, when Nicandra is eight, all is well in the grand Irish estate, Deer Forest. Maman is beautiful and adored. Dada, silent and small, mooches contendedly around the stables. Aunt Tossie, of the giant heart and bosom, is widowed but looks splendid in weeds. The butler, the groom, the landsteward, the maids, the men - each as a place and knows it. Then, astonishingly, the perfect surface is shattered; Maman does something too dreadful ever to be spoken of.
'What next? Who to love?' asks Nicaranda. And through her growing up and marriage her answer is to swamp those around her with kindness - while gradually the great house crumbles under a weight of manners and misunderstanding.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781844083251 |
| ISBN10 | 184408325X |
| Number Of Pages | 256 |
| Item Weight | 158 g |
| Product Dimensions | 135 x 198 x 17 mm |
| Publisher / Reseller | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
Molly Keane is astonishing . . . Loving and Giving is perhaps her richest work yet, an exquisitely written black comedy with a shock ending. The language is eloquent and original, the descriptions divine * Guardian *
Quite the best book she has written * Daily Telegraph *
Keane's distinctive blend of elegant savagery and deep affection . . . its human relationships tortured like bonsai by good form, its open-hearted, sensual passion for horses, dogs and landscape * Evening Standard *
I admired many authors. But Molly, I loved -- Diana Athill
This novel is a rare treat * Irish Times *
A writer of genius * Wall Street Journal *
Molly Keane is astonishing ... LOVING AND GIVING is perhaps her richest work yet, an exquisitely written black comedy with a shock ending. The language is eloquent and original, the descriptions divine * GUARDIAN *
This novel is a rare treat * IRISH TIMES *
Quite the best book she has written * DAILY TELEGRAPH *
Author's Bio
Molly Keane (1904-1996) was an Irish novelist and playwright. She grew up at Ballyrankin in County Wexford and was educated at a boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow. She married Bobby Keane, one of a Waterford squirearchical family in 1938 and had two daughters.
She used her married name for her later novels, several of which (Good Behaviour, Time After Time) have been adapted for television. Between 1928 and 1956, she wrote eleven novels, and some of her earlier plays, under the pseudonym M. J. Farrell. Her husband died suddenly in 1946, and following the failure of a play she published nothing for twenty years. In 1981, Good Behaviour came out under her own name. The novel was warmly received and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.