Author:Elizabeth Bowen
Bowen's Court describes the history of one Anglo-Irish family in County Cork from the Cromwellian settlement until 1959, when Elizabeth Bowen was forced to sell the family house she loved. Bowen reviews ten generations of her family, representatives of the Protestant Irish gentry whose lives were dominated by property, lawsuits, formidable matriarchs, violent conflicts, hunting, drinking, and self-destructive fantasies.
Seven Winters recalls with endearing candour Bowen's family and her Dublin childhood as seen through the eyes of a child who could not read till she was seven and who fed her imagination only on sights and sounds.
Interesting, beautiful and important
—— New StatesmanShe startles us by sheer originality of mind and boldness of sensibility into seeking our world afresh
—— V.S. PritchettThrillingly convoluted
—— GuardianA book of exceptional grace...the most extraordinary account of an emotional journey
—— ObserverAn extraordinary read, honest, intimate and lightly poetic. It is a testament of love, loss and grief and also the often untold story of those who are left behind and must find a way to go on
—— Irish IndependentA book for our times
—— Mark Lawson , Guardian, Books of the YearDefiant and powerful...Leiris shows us, poignantly and movingly, how the absence of Helene opens up for him and his son.
—— The TimesIncredible, informative, very powerful… Beautifully written… I felt so touched by it and changed by it, so I thank you for writing it. I hope it finds a huge audience. I can’t recommend it highly enough… A beautiful piece of work
—— Jonathan Ross , Radio 2 Arts ShowOne of the most enduring and memorable messages after the deadly attack on Paris's Bataclan theater was written by journalist Antoine Leiris. This bracing, courageous, and utterly beautiful book shows us that he had much more to say
—— Elle.comThe man whose words have inspired millions.
—— BBC NewsAn extraordinarily moving book
—— MirrorTissues at the ready, because though this book be little, it is FIERCE… No fluff. No forgiveness. No forgetting. I read it in one brief sitting, lying in the bath, tears dripping into the water.
—— PoolThis is a soliloquy not only on grief but on love, a raw but controlled cry of fury and defiance against a senseless killing, and a touching addition to the rich tradition of writing about loss.
—— Caroline Moorehead , Times Literary SupplementPoignant
—— GraziaIt is simple and immediate, and is all about love and loss… an astonishing feat
—— Sunday TimesVery intimate and full of love
—— Belfast TelegraphI am impressed by his responsiveness, the nuanced intelligence with which he speaks.
—— Kate Kellaway , GuardianCourageous and inspirational, without a wasted word
—— KirkusWhat he makes me see is how the personal is a possession and that this is especially true for everyone involved in the Bataclan tragedy because the personal was – and still is – in danger of being swamped by the public story of international terrorism.
—— Kate Kellaway , ObserverHe had deliberately retreated from the world that was talking incessantly about the slaughter… If Antoine refused to give his hate to the men who killed his wife and so many others, he also refuses to give them space in his life and that of his now two-year-old son.
—— Joe O'Shea , Belfast Telegraph MorningHe looked at the words on the screen as the news networks competed to find words to describe the events: massacre, carnage, bloodbath. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t because of Melvil… Initially resistant to spending time with fellow mourners, Antoine discovered that there is a kind of brotherhood, a feeling of recognition, that can provide consolation.
—— Cathy Rentzenbrink , Pool[A] beautifully written memoir… It’s the hardest book you can pick up this year, but also the most affecting.
—— GQIt is a personal account of the aftershock following the atrocity. Yet there is no gore, no torture, no scene-setting, no facts putting the Isis-claimed retaliation in context, no second-hand reports of what happened inside the theatre… Instead, it is simple and immediate, and is all about love and loss… This book may also be Leiris’s way of just holding it together. One feels he is writing as the man he was before that November day that changed everything… It is the literary equivalent of smelling her clothes every night before attempting to sleep.
—— Helen Davies , Sunday TimesA book for our times.
—— Mark Lawson , Guardian, Book of the YearThis book is a love song to Hélène, a promise to Melvil and a resolution not to be defeated by chaos and barbarity. It is a stunning mission statement.
—— Claire Looby , Irish TimesThis heartbreaking and beautifully written memoir lays bare the terrible chronology of grief, but it is also a testimony to the power of love and hope.
—— Jane Shilling , Daily MailIt’s an agonising account of those first few days, in which the lives of father and son changed forever. Despite the haste with which it was written, every word is chosen with care and charged with meaning, a raw and honest memoir of grief which can’t fail to move all who read it.
—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald Scotland