Run

by Ann Patchett (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.40

  Tip and Teddy are becoming men under the very eyes of their adoptive father, Bernard Doyle. A student at Harvard, Tip is happiest in a lab, whilst Teddy thinks he has found his calling in the Church, and both are increasingly strained by their father's protective plans for them. But when they are involved in an accident on an icy road, the Doyles are forced to confront certain truths about their lives, how the death of Doyle's wife Bernadette has affected the family, and an anonymous figure who is always watching.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $4.20

  It is just a few weeks after Christmas, and the unforgiving New England weather has taken a turn for the worse. Doyle has dragged his reluctant young sons - adopted sons, as his pale Irish colouring contrasted with their black skin makes obvious - to a speech by Jesse Jackson. Though his own political career is over, dealt a fatal blow by a family scandal, Doyle is still fired by Jackson's rhetoric and perplexed by his sons' indifference. The two boys are close enough in age to be taken for twins, but in character they couldn't be more different. Teddy - open, affectionate, the gentle dreamer - thinks he has found his calling in the Catholic Church. The elder by a year, Tip is more serious, reserving his own passionate interest for ichthyology: he is happiest alone in the warmth of the lab with its creaky boiler, labelling and categorising fish specimens with antiquated names, their bodies looming pale in heavy glass jars. As the family squabble on the icy pavement, Tip takes an exasperated step back and feels the sudden force of a body hurl him sideways. Suddenly there is whiteness, distant pain, and then a child's high scream. A black woman lies in the snow, knocked unconscious by the SUV whose path Tip had blundered into. A little girl crouches by her mother's motionless body, cradling her head, in shock. As Teddy puts a protective arm around her, it is with his usual instinctive kindness: he could not know quite how important this little girl, and her mother, is about to become to his family. Full of warmth and humanity and singing, graceful prose, Run is a moving story about our fragile hopes and fears for our children, and the lengths we will go to protect our families. It is a stunning new novel from the prizewinning author of Bel Canto.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.25

  It is just a few weeks after Christmas, and the unforgiving New England weather has taken a turn for the worse. Doyle has dragged his reluctant sons, Tip and Teddy, to a speech by Jesse Jackson. Though his own political career is over, dealt a fatal blow by a family scandal, Doyle is still fired by Jackson's rhetoric and perplexed by his sons' indifference. The two boys, both adopted, are close enough in age to be taken for twins, but in character they couldn't be more different. Teddy - open, affectionate, the gentle dreamer - thinks he has found his calling in the Catholic Church. The elder by a year, Tip is more serious, reserving his own passionate interest for ichthyology: he is happiest alone in the warmth of his lab, labelling and categorising fish specimens. When they are involved in a violent accident in the treacherously icy road, the Doyles are forced for the first time to confront certain truths: about how the death of Bernadette, Doyle's beloved wife, has affected the family, and about the anonymous figure, never discussed, who is the boys' real mother. Full of warmth and humanity and singing, graceful prose, Run is a moving story about our fragile hopes and fears for our children and the lengths we will go to to protect our families. It is a stunning new novel from the prizewinning author of Bel Canto.