Love and Summer - by William Trevor (Paperback)

About the Book

In spare, exquisite prose, a master storyteller presents a haunting love story about the choices of the heart, and the passions and frustrations of three lives during one long summer.

Book Synopsis

"Unbearably moving" - Spectator (London)

"A subtle, surprising, sometimes agonizing tale of young love and passion." - Julie Myerson

"The latest item from William Trevor's venerable suitcase, is a thrilling work of art."--The New York Times Book Review

In spare, exquisite prose, master storyteller William Trevor presents a haunting love story about the choices of the heart, and the passions and frustrations of three lives during one long summer. Ellie is a shy orphan girl from the hill country, married to a man whose life has been blighted by an unspeakable tragedy. She lives a quiet life in the Irish village of Rathmoye, until she meets Florian Kilderry, a young photographer preparing to leave Ireland and his past forever. The chance intersection of these two lost souls sets in motion a poignant love affair that requires Ellie to make an impossible choice.

Review Quotes

"Trevor is at the top of his game, and his game is better than anyone else's." - The Boston Globe

"This new novel... is a delicate sort of drama ... but even so, a reader will have his heart in his mouth for the last 50 pages. And when that heart settles back down, it will be broken and satisfied..."Love and Summer," the latest item from his venerable suitcase, is a thrilling work of art." - The New York Times Book Review

"A subtle, surprising, sometimes agonizing tale of young love and passion." - Julie Myerson

"Lingers in the memory as a beautiful meditation on love, belonging and the impossibility of escape" - Observer (London)

"Unbearably moving" - Spectator (London)

"A portrait of a brackish rural backwater, complete with family tragedy, sexual scandal, a repressed spinster and a half-crazed ancient retainer . . . delicate, elegiac, written with all Trevor's trademark compassion and understanding'" - Daily Mail (London)

"A series of wrenching human dramas, which Trevor depicts with kindness and beautiful delicacy" - Sunday Telegraph (London)

"Brilliant. Trevor is the ultimate Old Master'." - Evening Standard (London)

'"A flawless work of art." Independent on Sunday (London)

About the Author

William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, and spent his childhood in provincial Ireland. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin. He is the author of twenty-nine books, including Felicia's Journey, which won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and was made into a motion picture, and The Story of Lucy Gault, which was shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize and the Whitbread Fiction Prize. In 1996 he was the recipient of the Lannan Award for Fiction. In 2001, he won the Irish Times Literature Prize for fiction. Two of his books were chosen by The New York Times as best books of the year, and his short stories appeared regularly in The New Yorker. In 1997, he was named Honorary Commander of the British Empire.