Richard Godwin, subscribing to the urbanite's myth-taken idea that
eternal verities lost to sight in the subway crush turn up in easy
hailing distance on the edge of a moor, takes refuge from London in
an isolated Cumberland village. At first, it seems that the absence
of electricity promotes the presence of simple virtues. Godwin and
Janice Beattie, the girl from the cottage next door, fall in love
and marry - happily, but not for long. She had dropped out of
college to come home unwed and give birth to an unwanted child
without any diminishing of her desire to live freely, fully and
unfettered by emotional dependents. Godwin, the attractive
stranger, unwittingly upsets the dream of Edwin, a local boy
hauling himself up from a squalid heritage and away from his
vicious, drunken mother. Edwin had wanted Janice and in Edwin's
driven frantic work and worry pace, Godwin begins to recognize that
it can happen outside London, that the sturdy goodness of Janice's
mother is as vulnerable to disappointment, that the evil in Edwin's
mother is just as self-starting in a country setting. The author
accomplishes his unobtrusive commentary on the futility of
expecting inner peace to arrive from environment through the
traditional novel's greatest attraction: a well told story of
people whose proximity allows them to affect - intentionally and
unintentionally-the course of each others lives. (Kirkus Reviews)
Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize Disillusioned with his
successful life in London, Richard Godwin moves to a remote
Cumberland village in search of a more fulfilling existence. His
arrival coincides with a birth of an illegitimate child to a local
woman, binding her to a future she had hoped to escape. As these
two outsiders struggle to come to terms with themselves - and each
other - their passion, desperation and delight draw all those
around them into conflict. 'As near to being a work of art as makes
no difference. I became more and more deeply and enjoyably
immersed' The Times
General
Imprint: |
Sceptre
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
October 1988 |
Authors: |
Melvyn Bragg
|
Dimensions: |
196 x 130 x 28mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - B-format
|
Pages: |
384 |
Edition: |
New edition |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-340-43102-3 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
0-340-43102-4 |
Barcode: |
9780340431023 |
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