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On Canaan's Side
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On Canaan's Side Paperback - 2012

by Sebastian Barry

Told in the first person, "On Canaan's Side" is at once epic and intimate. Spanning nearly seven decades, from the Great Depression through World War II to the Vietnam War, it is the heartbreaking story of a woman whose capability to love is enormous, and whose compassion, even for those who have wronged her, is astonishing.


Summary

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, a mesmerizing new novel from the award-winning author of The Secret Scripture

A first-person narrative of Lilly Bere’s life, On Canaan’s Side opens as the eighty-five-year-old Irish émigré mourns the loss of her grandson, Bill. Lilly, the daughter of a Dublin policeman, revisits her eventful past, going back to the moment she was forced to flee Ireland at the end of the First World War. She continues her tale in America, where—far from her family—she first tastes the sweetness of love and the bitterness of betrayal.

Spanning nearly seven decades, Sebastian Barry’s extraordinary fifth novel explores memory, war, family ties, love, and loss, distilling the complexity and beauty of life into his haunting prose.

From the publisher

Longlisted for the Booker Prize, a mesmerizing new novel from the award-winning author of Old God's Time A first-person narrative of Lilly Bere's life, On Canaan's Side opens as the eighty-five-year-old Irish migr mourns the loss of her grandson, Bill. Lilly, the daughter of a Dublin policeman, revisits her eventful past, going back to the moment she was forced to flee Ireland at the end of the First World War. She continues her tale in America, where--far from her family--she first tastes the sweetness of love and the bitterness of betrayal. Spanning nearly seven decades, Sebastian Barry's extraordinary fifth novel explores memory, war, family ties, love, and loss, distilling the complexity and beauty of life into his haunting prose.

Details

  • Title On Canaan's Side
  • Author Sebastian Barry
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 272
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, New York
  • Date 2012-08-28
  • ISBN 9780143122180 / 0143122185
  • Weight 0.45 lbs (0.20 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.81 x 5.14 x 1.1 in (19.84 x 13.06 x 2.79 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, Psychological fiction
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

“Sebastian Barry, one of Ireland’s most successful playwrights and novelists, is at his best when he is writing about those who find themselves marginalized in the new Ireland as it emerges from under the yoke of British. And in his new book, On Canaan’s Side, we once again find him dealing with characters whose lives are swept up in the changing tide of Ireland’s independence…As always with Barry, the language is beautiful. I had to slow myself down to savor the way he puts words together, for he is a master craftsman.”

About the author

Sebastian Barry's novel A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, as was The Secret Scripture, which was also a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, winner of the Costa Book of the Year award and the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction, as well as the Irish Novel of the Year, and was selected as a Best Book of the Year by The Boston Globe and The Economist. His other novels include The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty and Annie Dunne. His plays have been produced in London, Dublin, Sydney and New York. Barry lives in Wicklow, Ireland, with his wife and three children.
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On Canaan's Side: A Novel
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On Canaan's Side: A Novel

by Sebastian Barry

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On Canaan's Side : A Novel
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On Canaan's Side: A Novel
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On Canaan's Side: A Novel

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On Canaan's Side: A Novel
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On Canaan's Side: A Novel

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