Book
Grace notes
Record details
- ISBN: 0393045420
-
Physical Description:
print
276 p. ; 22 cm. - Edition: 1st American ed.
- Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton, 1997.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Music -- Fiction Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction Women composers -- Fiction Irish fiction Families -- Fiction Ireland -- Fiction |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Vancouver Community College.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Circulation Modifier | Holdable? | Status | Due Date | Courses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadway Library | PR 6063 A2474 G73 1997 (Text) | 33109008538985 | Stacks | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 September 1997
Catherine McKenna returns home to Northern Ireland from her current residence, Glasgow, to attend the funeral of her estranged father. Back in Scotland she has left behind, for the time being, not only her work--she is a composer--but also her little girl--she is a single mother. As Catherine and her mother attempt to bridge the distance the past five years of not seeing each other has created between them, and then as Catherine returns home having established a tentative peace with her mother, the story of how Catherine got to this point all falls into place: her university days in Belfast, her graduate work in Glasgow, her teaching position on a small island, the relationship that produced a child but no permanent emotional sustenance, and her return to Glasgow with her baby and to serious musical composition. Impeccable in both psychology and structure, the latest novel by this first-rate Northern Irish fiction writer is an admirably graceful character study. ((Reviewed September 15, 1997))Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1997 August #2
Rarely the territory of male writers, the travails of postnatal depression and single motherhood get a sober, delicate treatment in the third novel from popular Northern Irish author MacLaverty (Lamb; Cal). The novel opens at the funeral of Catherine McKenna's father, a small-town publican, and goes back to trace Catherine's journey from her hometown, through music school in Scotland, into the male-dominated world of musical composition. Along the way, she takes up with Dave, a charming but ultimately abusive alcoholic; when she becomes pregnant, the conflict between her music and the endless demands of motherhood force her into an artistic impasse. Having left Dave, she battles clinical depression; having returned home, she must face the painful, irreconcilable differences of opinion and outlook that for years have estranged her from her religious parents, her Irishness and her church. The narrative moves gracefully from present to past, as childhood memories provide welcome moments of comfort and comic relief amid Catherine's wry reflections on her craft and her struggles to practice it. The most interesting writing manifests itself in Catherine's expression of her creative philosophy: her sources of inspiration, the process of composition and how the tones, textures and rhythms of sound blend to create what we appreciate as music. McLaverty's own music here is restrained and spare, but it swells to a crescendo in the denouement when one of Catherine's compositions is played in concert. (Sept.) Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews
