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Academy Street

Academy Street

by Mary Costello (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2015

    $3.51
Synopsis

AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME WINNER OF THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2014 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2014 Tess Lohan appears to be a quiet child. But within lies a heart of fire. A fire that will propel her from her native Ireland into the hurly-burly of 1960s New York. In this city she will face the twists of a life graced with great beauty, but forever floating close to hazard. Joyous and heart-breaking, Academy Street journeys through six decades and one incredible story.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 192
 Edition: Main
 Publisher: Canongate Books
Published: 02 Apr 2015
ISBN 10: 1782114203
ISBN 13: 9781782114208
Book Overview: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD

Media Reviews
Packed with emotional intensity * * Sunday Times * *
A writer of huge ability . . . Brings to mind John Williams's resurrected masterpiece, Stoner * * Guardian * *
To recount a life story in a novel is a difficult task. To do so with brevity and unsentimental honesty takes greatness. Academy Street is a powerful and emotional novel from one of literature's finest new voices -- JOHN BOYNE
An exceptional first novel * * The Times * *
With extraordinary devotion, Mary Costello brings to life a woman who would otherwise have faded into oblivion -- J.M. COETZEE
Mary Costello's writing has the kind of urgency that the great problems demand - call them themes; they are the kind of problems that make a writer -- ANNE ENRIGHT * * Guardian * *
Academy Street is understated, graceful and, ultimately, devastating. Even as my heart was breaking I couldn't put the book down -- DONAL RYAN, author of The Spinning Heart
Intensely moving but never sentimental, Academy Street is a profound meditation on what Faulkner called 'the human heart in conflict with itself'. In Tess Lohan, Mary Costello has created one of the most fully realised characters in contemporary fiction. What a marvel of a book -- RON RASH
Costello proves herself an absolute master in Academy Street * * Independent * *
A novel where the interior life on an ordinary woman is delineated with artistry and grace * * Metro * *
Delve[s] deep into the human condition, into the bittersweet beauty of life * * Irish Times * *
In her deceptively easygoing debut novel, Costello has refined her already spare style so that scarcely a word or phrase feels extraneous * * Metro Herald * *
An unimpeachable addition to the literature of Irish diaspora * * Country Life * *
The work of a highly accomplished writer and heralds the emergence of an exciting new novelist . . . Academy Street will keep you glued to its crisp pages, such is the intensity of its language and scale of its emotional reach. This is a novel that should be read by anyone who cares about writing and its ability to invoke * * Irish Independent * *
A markedly brave book, an unblinking attempt to recreate a life of intense ordinariness and make it special . . . well worth applauding * * Sunday Times * *
Extraordinarily compelling * * Guardian * *
Excellent * * Times Literary Supplement * *
Immense maturity and unusual writerly empathy * * Scotsman * *
A devastatingly sad, unsentimental and beautifully wrought account of a quiet life * * Psychologies * *
Heart-breaking * * The Simple Things * *
A major literary accomplishment from an exciting new voice * * Westmeath Independent * *
Tess's fearful, reserved exterior and rich inner world is written with exacting discipline. Every emotion, every sensory image is pared back on the page, stripped right down to its very essence . . . Academy Street will keep you glued to its crisp pages, such is the intensity of its language and scale of its emotional reach * * Irish Independent * *
Costello's tracing of a life from innocence to experience is full of compassion and an old-fashioned quality * * Independent On Sunday * *
Costello imbues lyricism into each sentence of her carefully constructed prose . . . she writes with a poetry that extends beyond being ornamental * * Observer * *
This is an astonishingly well-composed novel, which signals the arrival of a major literary talent * * Sunday Business Post * *
Author Bio
Mary Costello grew up in County Galway. Her collection of short stories, The China Factory, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. Her stories have been published in various anthologies and broadcast on radio. She lives in Dublin. Join the discussion on Twitter #AcademyStreet