The Well of Saint Nobody

The Well of Saint Nobody

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

William Barrow finds himself in lonely retirement in West Cork. Once an internationally renowned pianist, a terrible skin disease has attacked his hands and made it impossible for him to perform.Tara is a piano teacher with barely enough pupils to pay the month's rent. In the local café, the elegant writing of a job advertisement catches her eye: 'WANTED. HOUSEKEEPER.'She begins to work in William's house, keeping to herself the knowledge that they have met three times before, encounters that have changed her life. He is oblivious to this, while she spins tales of the well discovered in his back garden and of a mythical saint, of the healing powers of the water and the moss that surrounds it. But as the moss begins to heal William's troubled hands, the lines between legend and reality begin to blur, secrets resurface, and past and present collide in unexpected ways.Gripping and lyrical, The Well of St Nobody is a marvellous new novel by the author of The...
Read online
  • 609
The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small

The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

From multi-award-winning author and film director Neil Jordan comes a thrilling reimagining of a turning point in Irish, American and European history. 'A masterwork from one of the most inventive artists of our day' John Banville 'A writer of uncommon talent' Irish Times 'An expertly spun ballad defined by themes of belonging, illusion and fidelity' RTÉ CultureEutaw Springs, South Carolina, 1781, the American War of Independence. A runaway slave saves the life of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, a British army officer and the younger son of one of colonial Ireland's grandest families.The tale that unfolds is related by Tony Small, the slave who becomes Fitzgerald's manservant and friend. While details of Lord Edward's life are well documented, little is known of Tony Small. In this gripping narrative his character considers the ironies of empire, captivity and freedom, mapping Lord Edward's journey from being a loyal subject of the British Empire to becoming a leader of the disastrous...
Read online
  • 203
The Past

The Past

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

On June 1st, 1914, Una O’Shaughnessy sends a postcard home from a Cornish seaside town. Back in two weeks, she promises. But seven months later, she still has not returned to Ireland, and she sends another postcard, this one signed Una, , MichaelRene (!).The Past is the story of Rene, this unexpected child, as told by her own child as he searches for the truth about his parents’ mysterious and romantic history. Through the reminiscences of his mother's friend, the pieces of the past begin to fit together into a delicate mosaic of the truth. What really happened in that seaside town? Why does the past seem to hold so many secrets? Set over twenty-five years, travelling from Cornwall to Dublin and the Irish Provinces, The Past is a beautiful novel of love and longing, created by one of the preeminent artists of our time.
Read online
  • 70
Carnivalesque

Carnivalesque

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

It looked like any other carnival, but of course it wasn't... It had its own little backstreets, its alleyways of hanging bulbs and ghost trains and Punch and Judy stands ...And at the end of one he saw the Hall of Mirrors. There were looping strings of carnival lights leading towards it, and a large sign in mirrored glass reading 'Burleigh's Amazing Hall of Mirrors' and the sign reflected the lights in all sorts of magically distorted ways. To Andy and his parents, it looks like any other carnival: creaking ghost train, rusty rollercoaster and circus performers. But of course it isn't.Drawn to the hall of mirrors, Andy enters and is hypnotised by the many selves staring back at him. Sometime later, one of those selves walks out rejoins his parents – leaving Andy trapped inside the glass, snatched from the tensions of his suburban home and transported to a world where the laws of gravity are meaningless and time...
Read online
  • 29
Sunrise with Sea Monster

Sunrise with Sea Monster

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

Imprisoned in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Donal Gore is sustained by memories of setting fishing lines on the beach with his father, back home in Ireland. Released from the Spanish prison by a German officer who expects political intelligence in return, Donal goes back to the family home on the rainswept promenade-to find his once powerful father dramatically changed. The moving and magical heart of the novel explores the hopeless inability of this father and son to express their feelings for each other, until the father is literally beyond language. And at the same time it centers on the poignant, fumbling, triangular relationship between father, son, and Rose, the beautiful young stepmother. Weaving together love and politics, sex and treachery, unsettling humor and vivid layers of memory, Sunrise with Sea Monster is a tour de force, back in print for the first time in years. Neil Jordan is the award-winning writer and director of such films as Mona Lisa, The End of...
Read online
  • 13
155