The South
Published on 1. January 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-4472-7772-9 (ISBN)
Description
With an introduction by Roy Foster
A classic work of Irish literature, this award-winning novel is an exploration of love, art and identity.
This was the night train to Barcelona, some hours before the dawn. This was 1950, late September. I had left my husband. I had left my home.
Katherine Proctor has dared to leave her family in Ireland and reach out for a new life. Determined to become an artist, she flees to Spain, where she meets Miguel, a passionate man who has fought for his own freedoms. They retreat to the quiet intensity of the mountains and begin to build a life together. But as Miguel's past catches up with him, Katherine too is forced to re-examine her relationships: with her lover, her painting and the homeland she only thought she knew. . .
The South is the book that introduced readers to the astonishing gifts of Colm Toibin, winning the Irish Times First Fiction Award in 1991. Arrestingly visual and enduringly atmospheric, it is a classic novel of art, sacrifice, and courage.
A classic work of Irish literature, this award-winning novel is an exploration of love, art and identity.
This was the night train to Barcelona, some hours before the dawn. This was 1950, late September. I had left my husband. I had left my home.
Katherine Proctor has dared to leave her family in Ireland and reach out for a new life. Determined to become an artist, she flees to Spain, where she meets Miguel, a passionate man who has fought for his own freedoms. They retreat to the quiet intensity of the mountains and begin to build a life together. But as Miguel's past catches up with him, Katherine too is forced to re-examine her relationships: with her lover, her painting and the homeland she only thought she knew. . .
The South is the book that introduced readers to the astonishing gifts of Colm Toibin, winning the Irish Times First Fiction Award in 1991. Arrestingly visual and enduringly atmospheric, it is a classic novel of art, sacrifice, and courage.
Reviews / Votes
A broad and beautifully worked canvas . . . An imaginative, deeply felt and evocative tale * Sunday Times * A daring, imaginative feat; the world it conjures is at once familiar and strange, and strangely moving. A splendid first novel -- John Banville This is a strong and moving work of fiction about the hard truths of changing one's life. Colm Toibin, like his characters, never says too much and never lets us grow too comfortable. A grand achievement -- Don DeLillo Colm Toibin writes prose of a heartbreaking beauty. -- Hilary Mantel Clever, evocative and intelligent * Irish Times * The story is told with spare, simple elegance * London Review of Books *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
229 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4472-7772-9 (9781447277729)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Persons
Colm Toibin was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including Brooklyn, the 2009 Costa Novel of the Year, The Master, which was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize and winner of the LA Times Book Prize and the IMPAC Book Award, and The Blackwater Lightship, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize and the 2001 IMPAC Award. His non-fiction includes Bad Blood, Homage to Barcelona, The Sign of the Cross and Love in a Dark Time. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He lives in Dublin.