A Special Providence - (Vintage Contemporaries) by Richard Yates (Paperback)

About the Book

Yates's second novel follows a young man, Robert Prentice, and his mother Alice, a sculptor. With haunting clarity, Yates crafts an unforgettable portrait of two people who cannot help but hope for more even as life challenges them both.

Book Synopsis

From one of the most important writers of the twentieth century, the acclaimed author of Revolutionary Road, comes the story of a mother who struggles with her own demons while her son goes to fight in Europe, hoping to become his own man.

"Like Breakfast At Tiffany's spliced with All Quiet On The Western Front. Impossible to paraphrase, wonderful to read." --Zadie Smith, bestselling author of White Teeth

Robert Prentice has spent all his life attempting to escape his mother's stifling presence. His mother, Alice, for her part, is attempting to realize her dreams of prosperity and success as a sculptor. As Robert goes off to fight in Europe, Richard Yates portrays a soldier in the depths of war striving to live up to his heroic ideals.

With haunting clarity, Yates crafts an unforgettable portrait of two people who cannot help but hope for more even as life challenges them both.

Review Quotes

"Like Breakfast At Tiffany's spliced with All Quiet On The Western Front. Impossible to paraphrase, wonderful to read." --Zadie Smith, bestselling author of White Teeth

"Soft-spoken in his prose and terrifyingly accurate in his dialogue, Yates renders his characters with such authenticity that you hardly realize what he's done." --The Boston Globe

"One of America's best-kept secrets.... Keenly insightful, brutally honest ... delivering a swift kick to the heart." --The Denver Post

"Yates writes powerfully and enters completely and effortlessly into the lives of his characters." --The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Richard Yates was born in 1926 in New York and lived in California. His prize-winning stories began to appear in 1953 and his first novel, Revolutionary Road, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. He is the author of eight other works, including the novels A Good School, The Easter Parade, and Disturbing the Peace, and two collections of short stories, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness and Liars in Love. He died in 1992.