The Old Romantic
Published on 5. August 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-1-905490-19-6 (ISBN)
Description
Obsessed with death and planning his own funeral, Ken is determined to die in the bosom of his family. But it isn't that easy; his family don't want to know him.
His oldest son Nick left home over twenty years ago and reinvented himself. At forty, he has returned home to Kent, and found happiness with his girlfriend Astrid and her twelve-year-old daughter Laura, and he doesn't want the old man to spoil things. He's come a long way; he's a professional, a country gent, a family man.
But the past is coming back for Nick and it won't let him be.
In this dark comedy, in prose that is funny and moving, Louise Dean sharpens her scalpel again to write about the changing generations, about class and ageing and death too, about England now and the England we have left behind.
His oldest son Nick left home over twenty years ago and reinvented himself. At forty, he has returned home to Kent, and found happiness with his girlfriend Astrid and her twelve-year-old daughter Laura, and he doesn't want the old man to spoil things. He's come a long way; he's a professional, a country gent, a family man.
But the past is coming back for Nick and it won't let him be.
In this dark comedy, in prose that is funny and moving, Louise Dean sharpens her scalpel again to write about the changing generations, about class and ageing and death too, about England now and the England we have left behind.
Reviews / Votes
Channels the rough music of everyday life with a tragicomic subtlety, a pin-sharp ear for dialogue and a flair for every nuance of character and class. Louise Dean's fearless, frank and darkly comic novels have brought a fresh colour and character to English fiction -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent * Dark, scurrilous and richly comic. There is so much to treasure in this terrific book, but its deepest joy is the sharp, perceptive writing * Financial Times * Dean is able to demonstrate her unobtrusive skill as the creator of comic set-pieces...painfully funny * The Sunday Times * Very appealing...so vivid are the quintessentially British characters and the snappy, well-observed dialogue. Delightful, eccentric * Observer * Dean's observations have a lyrical intensity few can match * Guardian * A warm-hearted comedy of bad manners * Daily Mail * Dean writes with beautifully controlled clarity about family ties, social class, the generation gap and the vanished England of the past. She's extremely funny, but also humane and moving * The Times * Sharply observed * Psychologies * Compassionate and amusing * The Times Literary Supplement *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
397 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-905490-19-6 (9781905490196)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Louise Dean is the author of three previous novels: Becoming Strangers, which was awarded the Betty Trask Prize in 2004 and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award, This Human Season and The Idea of Love. She lives in Kent and has three children.