LoveReading Says
Set in 1960’s Ireland this novel touches on themes of religion, politics, family and country life.
April 2010 Guest Editor Katharine McMahon on John McGahern...
I am part Irish, and there was much in Amongst Women that appealed to the bit of me that responds to that - the Irish Catholicism, the old patriarchal family structure and the closeness of family, the beauty and harshness of the countryside, and how an intimate story can be told that encompasses a sweeping political backdrop.
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Amongst Women Synopsis
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME
McGahern's 'masterpiece: the sort of book which you can give anyone of any age and know that they will be changed by it' (Colm Tóibìn) by 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel).
'A book that can be read in two hours, but will linger in the mind for decades.' Sunday Telegraph
Once an officer in the Irish War for Independence, Moran is now a widower, eking out a living on a small farm where he raises his two sons and three daughters. Adrift from the structure and security of the military, he keeps control by binding his family close to him. But as his children grow older and seek independence, and as the passing years bring with them bewildering change, Moran struggles to find a balance between love and tyranny.
'McGahern brings us that 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
'An overwhelming experience.' The Times
'Wise and compelling ... Elegiac and graceful.' David Mitchell
'I have admired, even loved, John McGahern's work since his first novel.' Melvyn Bragg
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About John McGahern
John McGahern was born in Dublin in 1934 and brought up in the West of Ireland. He was a graduate of University College, Dublin. He worked as a Primary School teacher and held various academic posts at universities in Britain, Ireland and America. In the opinion of the Observer, John McGahern was 'Ireland's greatest living novelist'. He was the author of six highly acclaimed novels and four collections of short stories, and was the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship, the American-Irish Award, the Prix Etrangère Ecureuil and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Amongst Women, which won both the GPA and the Irish Times Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and made into a four-part BBC television series. His work has appeared in anthologies and has been translated into many languages. His last book, Memoir, was published in 2005.
Fellow novelist Katharine McMahon on John McGahern...
I am part Irish, and there was much in Amongst Women that
appealed to the bit of me that responds to that - the Irish
Catholicism, the old patriarchal family structure and the closeness of
family, the beauty and harshness of the countryside, and how an
intimate story can be told that encompasses a sweeping political
backdrop.
More About John McGahern
