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The Confessions of Edward Day

The Confessions of Edward Day

by ValerieMartin (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2009

    $4.32
Synopsis

Set in the world of 1970s Manhattan theatre, The Confessions follows aspiring thesp Edward Day, his friends and associates, as they re-assess ideas of sexuality, duty and gratitude - and the wisdom of living as a jobbing actor. After Edward Day joins fellow actors for a summer weekend on the New Jersey Shore, his life is never the same again. He is saved from drowning by the mysterious Guy Margate, a man with whom he shares both a marked physical resemblance and an implacable attraction to the beautiful, talented, neurotic Madeleine Delavergne. Ever after, in spooky encounters provoked by envy and resentment, Edward is torn between his desire for Madeleine and his indebtedness to the querulous Guy. Professional and personal jealousies come to a head when Edward is cast opposite Madeleine in an acclaimed production of Uncle Vanya, their respective roles painfully mirroring the reality of their personal situations. As the sexual tensions of the play spill over outside the theatre walls, Guy - Edward's reluctant saviour and now Madeleine's husband - makes the ultimate act of protest.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 304
 Edition: UK First Edition; 1st printing.
 Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 13 Aug 2009
ISBN 10: 0297844997
ISBN 13: 9780297844990
Book Overview: New novel by the author of 'Trespass'.

Media Reviews
Valerie Martin never repeats herself. After a memorable novel about Victorian London (Mary Reilly) and the best book there is about slavery (Property), she has now recreated in stunning detail a recent decade that feels as glamorous and remote as the 1890s or the 1920s. EDMUND WHITE engrossing... The best thing about Martin's novel is its portrait of a live of an actor...a wonderful evocation...It is a testament to the author's skill that Edward's shortcomings only serve to make the book more enjoyable. -- STEPHEN AMIDON SUNDAY TIMES - 13.09.09 There are shades of Highsmith here, and Wilde's Dorian Gray. This novel is marvellous and unmissable. -- KATE SAUNDERS THE TIMES - 29.08.09 Martin draws us skilfully and boldly into a world in which near drownings, lost loves, stalkers and the loaded gun which must finally go off, are not nearly as terrifying as the unknowability of the human psyche. DAILY TELEGRAPH - 29.08.09 Valerie Martin is a goddess. Her prose is so sharp, intense and wickedly witty, you'll whip through this story like lightning... Glamour, intrigue and passions run high in this scintillating novel. EASY LIVING - OCTOBER 09 Actors will always be fascinating creatures to us mortals, but this hugely enjoyable novel repays that fascination with interest. THE INDEPENDENT - 18.09.09 a marvellous, sort-of-thriller -- One of the Books We've Loved in the Past Few Weeks THE TIMES - 05.09.09 set against a backdrop of New York theatre during the Seventies and Eighties... a lively and absorbing tale that convincingly inhabits its milieu. -- MICHAEL ARDITTI DAILY MAIL - 14.08.09 a fictional memoir set amid the bohemian squalor of New York's theatre world in the 1970s, when rents were cheap, love was free and actors willingly worked for nothing... what better place for gossip to thrive -- ANNE SIMPSON THE HERALD - 12.09.09 Mischevious, observant and often suprisingly moving... a wonderfully entertaining story. -- ROBERT COLBECK YORKSHIRE EVENING POST - 05.09.09 one of the best I've ever read about the actor's psyche. THE SCOTSMAN - 05.09.09 There is a quality to her storytelling and a classiness to her writing that warrant the accolades she has achieved in a career of eight novels. I predict that her ninth will win her yet more as she plunges yet again into new territory... No surprise then that it's my book with a buzz this week. -- PAUL BLEZARD THE LADY - 18.08.09 stylish, intelligent, unruffled prose... Martin, deft at pacing, controls her information with such consummate cunning that she creates a very gradual slide of the reader's response towards Edward so that the complete revelation of his unsympathetic nature comes only at the end as a considerable detonatory charge. SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - 27.09.09 Martin's prose is meticulous and perfectly balanced - there is not a word out of place. This is a graceful, epigrammatic novel. IRISH TIMES 26.09.09 Valerie Martin gets right into the psyche of the actor... the atmospheric theatre setting, the clever plotting and the perceptive characterisations make this a real winner. -- BOOKSELLER'S CHOICE THE BOOKSELLER a simple love triangle storyline THE BIG ISSUE - 24.08.09 Set against a vibrant backdrop of 1970s theatre... a startling and perhaps bittersweet conclusion to the ninth novel from American writer Valerie Martin, winner of the 2003 Orange Prize. PRESS ASSOCIATION syndicated review - 21.08.09 an icy psychosexual thriller that relies on easy jokes about thesps and arty types but it would be a shame if the novel's craft were doubted. The text knowling embodies its themee, performance , rehearsing, riffing, interpreting, as an actor interprets a script. And thanks to the deadpan narration, the jokes are fun. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT - 30.10.09
Author Bio
Valerie Martin is the author of three collections of short fiction and nine novels, including Mary Reilly and her Orange Prize-winning PROPERTY. She lives in upstate New York.