Nights in a Foreign Country

Nights in a Foreign Country

by JeanMcNeil (Author)

Synopsis

Jean McNeil's first novel, Hunting Down Home, was widely praised for its 'knife-edged lyricism' and exquisite language. With this collection of stories, she returns to form with thirteen startling tales of longing and arbitrary lives. In 'Once Seen', a young woman in London constructs her own yearnings through ads in the Once Seen columns. In 'Beach Boy', Ignacio struggles to recall an earlier childhood, and a mother in the northern hemisphere who wants him back. A once successful writer seeks to revitalise his career through tracing the journeys and illicit loves of his famous travel writer friend in 'Cachoeira'. Lives intertwine briefly and uncoil suddenly in these human encounters - two girls in a burning landscape, a journalist caught in a Central American coup, a father and a daughter watching eels thrashing in a weir on a moonlit night. Set in Canada, Britain, France and Central America, each story is a whole world in itself, perfectly created in precise, sensuous language.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 04 Oct 2001

ISBN 10: 0753812746
ISBN 13: 9780753812747
Book Overview: Jean McNeil is an extremely talented and promotable young writer Jean McNeil has won the Prism International Fiction Competition twice and was the recipient of one of four New Writing Awards from the London Arts Board in 1997 'McNeil has a sharp, unarguable talent' New York Times Book Review 'This is a strong first collection of short stories from a young Canadian writer. The narrative style is fragmented, shifting, the prose gravid with surreal imagery' Irish Times 'Gem-like short stories' Daily Mail

Author Bio
Jean McNeil grew up on Cape Breton Island in Canada but has lived in London since 1991 and has spent long periods living in Latin America. Her first novel Hunting Down Home was published in 1996. She is also the author of the Rough Guide to Costa Rica.