New Releases by Alice McDermott

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of the Year by Time, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Kirkus Reviews, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Oprah Daily, Real Simple, and Vogue A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award. American women—American wives—have been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Absolution they take center stage. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s mandate to be “helpmeets” to their ambitious husbands with their own inchoate impulse to “do good” for the people of Vietnam. Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlene’s altruistic machinations, and discovering how their own lives as women on the periphery—of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands’ convictions—have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia. A virtuosic new novel from Alice McDermott, one of our most observant, most affecting writers, about folly and grace, obligation, sacrifice, and, finally, the quest for absolution in a broken world.

A collection of essays, lectures, and observations on the art of writing fiction from Alice McDermott, winner of the National Book Award and unmatched "virtuoso of language and image" (Rebecca Steinitz, The Boston Globe) What About the Baby? Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction gathers the bestselling novelist Alice McDermott’s pithiest wisdom about her chosen art, acquired over a lifetime as an acclaimed writer and teacher of writing. From technical advice (“check that your verbs aren’t burdened by unnecessary hads and woulds”) to setting the bar (“I expect the fiction I read to carry with it the conviction that it is written with no other incentive than that it must be written”), from the demands of readers (“they’d been given a story with a baby in it, and they damn well wanted that baby accounted for”) to the foibles of public life (“I’ve never subscribed to the notion that a film adaptation is the final imprimatur for a work of fiction, despite how often I’ve been told by encouraging friends and strangers, ‘Maybe they’ll make a movie of your novel,’ as if I’d been aiming for a screenplay all along but somehow missed the mark and wrote a novel by mistake”), McDermott muses trenchantly and delightfully about the craft of fiction. She also serves throughout as the artful conductor of a literary chorus, quoting generously from the work of other great writers (including Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Nabokov, Morrison, and Woolf ), beautifully joining her voice with theirs. These stories of lessons learned and books read, and of the terrors and the joys of what she calls “this mad pursuit,” form a rich and valuable sourcebook for readers and writers alike: a deeply charming meditation on the unique gift that is literature.

«Superbo e magistrale. Potente e sublime. Le frasi di McDermott bruciano sulla pagina». The Washington Post Nella Brooklyn di inizio Novecento, la storia di una famiglia di immigrati irlandesi illuminata, anche nei momenti piú bui, dal bagliore della grazia.

On a dim winter afternoon, a young Irish immigrant opens a gas tap in his Brooklyn apartment. He is determined to show his boss who recently fired him and to his badgering, pregnant wife, that his life was his alone. In the aftermath of the fire and his suicide, Catholic Brooklyn of the twentieth century attempts to erase the man''s brief existence through shame and superstition. Though he is never spoken of, his life reverberates through many, testing the limits of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness.

Deux fois par semaine, pendant les vacances d''été, Lucy quitte sa maison de Long Island pour se rendre dans l''appartement de Brooklyn où elle a grandi et où vivent encore ses trois soeurs : May, une femme douce et réservée, ancienne religieuse ; Veronica, vieille fille solitaire qui boit un peu trop ; et Agnes, ambitieuse et efficace, qui ne doute de rien. Il y a aussi leur tante, Momma, qui a jadis abandonné l''Irlande et la ferme, et les a élevées comme ses filles après le décès de sa soeur. Vues par les trois enfants de Lucy, ces visites à Brooklyn sont des après-midi sans fin aux rituels immuables — le repas lourd, l''heure du cocktail, les disputes, les larmes, les portes qui claquent – jusqu''au moment où leur père vient les délivrer. Heureusement, il y a aussi les vraies vacances, deux semaines où il les emmène dans une location au bord de la mer. Cet été-là, il y a le mariage de May. Quelque chose qui ressemble au bonheur, avant que n''advienne le drame...

Jim agite doucement la main en refermant la porte derrière sa femme Annie qu’il a envoyée faire des courses. Il enroule alors soigneusement son pardessus dans le sens de la longueur et le pose au pied de cette même porte. À son retour, c’est un miracle si Annie ne fait pas sauter la maison entière en craquant une allumette dans l’appartement rempli de gaz. Les chevilles enflées après une journée à faire l’aumône, sœur Saint-Sauveur prend la relève des pompiers auprès de la jeune femme enceinte et des voisins sinistrés de ce petit immeuble de Brooklyn. La nouvelle du suicide étant déjà parue dans le journal, elle échouera à faire enterrer Jim dans le cimetière catholique, mais c’est très vite toute la congrégation qui se mobilise : on trouve un emploi pour Annie à la blanchisserie du couvent où sa fille Sally grandit sous l’œil bienveillant de sœur Illuminata, tandis que sœur Jeanne lui enseigne sa vision optimiste de la foi. Et quand cette enfant de couvent croira avoir la vocation, c’est l’austère sœur Lucy qui la mettra à l’épreuve en l’emmenant dans sa tournée au chevet des malades. "Si j’étais Dieu, avait coutume de dire sœur Saint-Sauveur, je ferais les choses autrement." À défaut de l’être, les Petites Sœurs soignantes des Pauvres Malades, chacune avec son histoire et ses secrets, sont l’âme d’un quartier qui est le véritable protagoniste du roman d’Alice McDermott.

A portrait of the Irish-American experience is presented through the story of an Irish immigrant''s suicide and how it reverberates through innumerable lives in early twentieth-century Catholic Brooklyn.

Una bambina osserva il mondo attraverso i suoi occhiali spessi. Intorno a lei un quartiere, Brooklyn, e la struggente tenerezza delle esistenze che lí si compiono.

Uma vida: suas dores devastadoras e suas alegrias inesperadas; suas rajadas de brilhante clareza e seus momentos de profunda confusão. Esse é o tema de Alguém para amar, extraordinário novo romance de Alice McDermott, após um hiato de sete anos. Lembranças dispersas — de uma infância curiosa, das descobertas sexuais na adolescência, da maternidade, e, finalmente, da velhice — se reúnem nesta história inesquecível que retrata uma mulher admirável, mas que, ao mesmo tempo, poderia ser nossa mãe, nossa amiga, nossa vizinha ou até nós mesmos. Logo nas primeiras páginas somos apresentados à Marie Commeford ainda criança: uma menina com óculos de lentes grossas, que observa uma Nova York pré-Depressão da varanda de sua casa no Brooklyn. A partir daí, Marie conta sua própria história e relembra momentos marcantes, como sua primeira desilusão amorosa e o trabalho como “anjo consolador” de uma funerária; o breve e delicado período em que seu irmão se dedicou ao sacerdócio; seu casamento feliz e o nascimento dos filhos. A deterioração urbana que destrói o bairro de imigrantes irlandeses de sua infância é paralela à deterioração da saúde de sua mãe e da sanidade de seu irmão. Os gestos de sua jovem vida reverberam nas tristezas e nos triunfos da velhice. Alguém para amar é um romance totalmente original que fala sobre as grandes verdades da vida à medida que os dias passam, tão únicos quanto inexoráveis. A magia da história composta por Alice McDermott reside na forma como os eventos narrados com destreza, emoção e um humor refinado refletem nossas próprias lembranças e experiências, compondo um retrato universal de diferentes mulheres, em diferentes épocas e lugares que espelham as emoções, os percalços, as perdas e as alegrias vividas por Marie ao longo do século XX. Alguém para amar marca a consagração definitiva de uma das maiores escritoras americanas da atualidade.

La vida, con sus pequeñas alegrías y momentos de felicidad, pero también con sus tristezas y desconcertantes altibajos, es el tema de esta novela extraordinaria. Los recuerdos aparentemente dispersos y desordenados de Marie Commeford, la protagonista y narradora de esta historia, una neoyorquina de origen irlandés, nos envuelven en una telaraña invisible en la que se entretejen la infancia, el despertar sexual, los primeros amores, la maternidad, la formación de una familia y la vejez. En su narración, que recorre siete décadas de vida en Brooklyn, las escenas encajan con una ligereza y naturalidad pasmosas, convirtiendo en emocionante la que en apariencia era una existencia como tantas otras.Una novela que nos reconcilia con los desengaños y las ilusiones cotidianas, con las pequeñas exigencias de la vida que tantas veces nos dominan y condicionan, y que confirma a Alice McDermott (ganadora del National Book Award y dos veces finalista del Pulitzer) como una de las más destacadas escritoras norteamericanas contemporáneas.

''A stunning work'' Sunday Times ''That Night has universal appeal ... there is a depth of feeling here which is beautifully - and seriously - realised'' Independent ______________________ The evocative second novel from National Book Award winner Alice McDermott On a warm suburban night, the sound of lawn sprinklers is drowned out by the rumble of hot rods. Suddenly, a car careens onto a family''s neat front yard, teenage boys spill out brandishing chains and leather, and a young man cries out for the girl he loves. Tonight, fathers will pick up snow shovels and rakes to defend their turf, and children will witness a battle fuelled by fierce, true love. This is the night they will talk about and remember as the moment things changed for ever.

The quietest life can resonate the longest. A beautiful, bittersweet masterpiece about a remarkable journey of the heart SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2015 LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2014 Someone begins on the stoop of a Brooklyn apartment building where Marie is waiting for her father to come home from work. It is the 1920s and in her Irish-American enclave the stories of her neighbours unfold before her short-sighted eyes. As the years pass Marie''s own history plays out against the backdrop of a changing world. This is the story of one life in all its devastating pains and unexpected joys; its bursts of brilliant clarity and moments of profound confusion. Fragments of a curious childhood, of adolescent sexual awakenings, of motherhood and, finally, old age are pieced together in this resonant tale of an unremarkable, unforgettable woman. ______________________ ''A beautiful book'' Sunday Telegraph ''Masterful'' Irish Times ''Exquisite'' New York Times

As part of the Penguin Academics series, American Literature Volume 2, offers a wide range of selections (with minimal editorial apparatus) at an affordable price. This new edition of American Literature presents an exciting opportunity for readers. Many of the pieces will be familiar to readers of American literature, but we have also taken steps to include selections that are not as well known and just as compelling. Making this new edition even more attractive are six thematic clusters of excerpts from documents illustrating key trends in American social and literary history; a richer selection of images; and a new page design to enhance the reading experience.

On a wild, windy April day in Manhattan, when Mary first meets John Keane, she cannot know what lies ahead of her. A marriage, a fleeting season of romance, and the birth of four children will bring John and Mary to rest in the safe embrace of a traditional Catholic life in the suburbs. But neither Mary nor John, distracted by memories and longings, can feel the wind that is buffeting their children, leading them in directions beyond their parents’ control. Michael and his sister Annie are caught up in the sexual revolution. Jacob, brooding and frail, is drafted to Vietnam. And the youngest, Clare, commits a stunning transgression after a childhood spent pleasing her parents. As John and Mary struggle to hold on to their family and their faith, Alice McDermott weaves an elegant, unforgettable portrait of a world in flux–and of the secrets and sorrows, anger and love, that lie at the heart of every family.

A young girl''s astonishing, poignant first look into the turbulent heart of things "I had in my care that summer four dogs, three cats, the Moran kids, Daisy, my eight-year-old cousin, and Flora, the toddler child of a local artist. There was also, for a while, a litter of wild rabbits, three of them, that had been left under our back steps.... " Alice McDermott''s haunting and enchanting new work of fiction--her first since the bestselling Charming Billy, winner of the 1998 National Book Award--is narrated by a woman who was born beautiful. Her parents decided that her best chance in life was to marry a wealthy man, so she was raised on the east end of Long Island, among the country houses of the rich. On the cusp of fifteen, she is the town''s most sought-after babysitter--cheerful, beloved, a wonder with children and animals, but also a solitary soul with an already complex understanding of human nature--when her favorite cousin, Daisy, comes to spend the summer. The narrator''s witty, piquant, deeply etched evocation of all that was really transpiring under the surface during that seemingly idyllic season gives her wry tale--infused with suppressed passion, disappointment, and enduring hope--its remarkable vividness and impact. Once again, Alice McDermott explores the mysterious depths of what seems like everyday life with unforgettable insight and resonant emotional power.

The New York Times Bestselling Author of After This and Charming Billy Elizabeth Connelly, editor at a New York vanity press, sells the dream of publication (admittedly, to writers of questionable talent). Stories of true emotional depth rarely cross her desk. But when a young writer named Tupper Daniels walks in, bearing an unfinished novel, Elizabeth is drawn to both the novelist and his story—a lyrical tale about a man in love with more than one woman at once. Tupper''s manuscript unlocks memories of her own secretive father, who himself may have been a bigamist. As Elizabeth and Tupper search for the perfect dénouement, their affair, too, approaches a most unexpected and poignant coda. A brilliant debut from one of our most celebrated authors, A Bigamist''s Daughter is "a wise, sad, witty novel about men and women, God, hope, love, illusion, and fiction itself" (Newsweek).

Tijdens een begrafenis haalt een familie uit de Iers-Amerikaanse gemeenschap in New York herinneringen op aan de gestorvene en zijn hopeloze liefde voor zijn jeugdvriendin.

Praised in the highest terms by reviewers, the story of a charming, romantic Irish American explores the impact of his life and death on his family and his close-knit New York City neighborhood. Reprint.

Slipping effortlessly between past and present, between memory and observation, Alice McDermott''s critically acclaimed "At Weddings and Wakes" tells the story of three generations of an Irish-Catholic family through the eyes of its youngest members. 288 pp. 17,500 print. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.