Author:Catherine Cookson
As an only child, Annabella LaGrange lived a privileged, secluded existence, and had come to accept that her wealthy parents lived at opposite ends of their magnificent country estate and that she was never taken beyond the gates.
But at seventeen she learns something so shocking about her past that she flees her childhood home, forced to embark upon a new existence with an invented past. Suddenly Annabella must unlearn everything she has been taught about class and love . . .
Part of Toibin's success comes down to the power of his writing: an almost unfaultable combination of artful restraint and wonderfully observed detail . . . Unforgettable
—— Mary Beard , New York TimesA giant amongst storytellers, Toibin has thrown down the gauntlet with his latest novel . . . And it is a masterpiece
—— Edith Hall , Daily TelegraphA gorgeous stylist, Tóibín captures the subtle flutterings of consciousness better than any writer alive . . . Never before has Tóibín demonstrated such range, not just in tone but in action. He creates the arresting, hushed scenes for which he's so well known just as effectively as he whips up murders that compete, pint for spilled pint, with those immortal Greek playwrights
—— Washington PostThis is a novel about the way the members of a family keep secrets from one another, tell lies and make mistakes.. .
—— Literary ReviewIn a novel describing one of the Western world's oldest legends, in which the gods are conspicuous by their absence, Tóibín achieves a paradoxical richness of characterisation and a humanisation of the mythological, marking House Of Names as the superbly realised work of an author at the top of his game.
—— Daily ExpressA spellbinding adaptation of the Clytemnestra myth, House of Names considers the Mycenaen queen in all her guises: grieving mother, seductress, ruthless leader - and victim of the ultimate betrayal.
—— VogueA haunting story, largely because Tóibín tells it in spare, resonant prose...
—— Lucy Hughes-Hallett , New StatesmanA Greek House of Cards... Just like Heaney at the end of his Mycenae lookout, Toibin's novel augurs an era of renewal that comes directly from the cessation of hostilities.
—— Fiona Macintosh , Irish TimesThe book's mastery of pacing and tone affirm the writer as one of our finest at work today.
—— John Boland , Irish IndependentA daring, and triumphant return, to the Oresteia... bleakly beautiful twilight of the Gods.
—— Boyd Tonkin , The Arts DeskIt couldn't have been done better
—— ScotsmanA visceral reworking of Oresteia
—— ObserverThe escalation of violence and desire for revenge has deliberate echoes of the Irish Troubles
—— Observer Books of the Year