An Irish country girl marries in haste, but finds an escape from her loveless marriage in William Trevor’s haunting and evocative tale.

Young, ingenuous Mary Louise Dallon, fearful of being trapped in her parents’ cramped farmhouse, cannot resist the limited attractions of the nearby small town. She marries into it, only to discover a despair and desolation from which her sheltered girlhood had protected her. When she is rescued, it is not by a stalwart lover but by a bespectacled boy in poor health who reads her Turgenev in a deserted country churchyard.
Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1991
Published by
Viking
Publication date

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William Trevor

William Trevor

About the Author

William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, Ireland. He wrote many novels, and was a renowned writer of short stories.
More about William Trevor

Other nominated books by William Trevor

Love and Summer
The Story of Lucy Gault
The Children of Dynmouth
Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neil's Hotel