"SUBTLY INTRICATE.... McGAHERN'S ACHIEVEMENT IN THIS AUTUMNAL NOVEL IS TO REMIND US HOW MUCH EVEN A HAPPY LIFE CAN KNOW OF SORROW" -THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
With this magnificently assured new novel, John McGahern again reveals why he has been called the Irish Chekhov, as he guides us into a village in rural Ireland and deftly, compassionately traces its natural rhythms and the inner lives of its people. Here are the Ruttledges, who have forsaken the glitter of London to raise sheep and cattle; gentle Jamesie Murphy, whose appetite for gossip both charms and intimidates his neighbors; handsome John Quinn, perennially on the lookout for a new wife; and the town's richest man, a gruff, self-made magnate known as the Shah.
Following his characters through the course of a year, through lambing and haying seasons, market days and family visits, McGahern lays bare their passions and regrets, their uneasy relationship with the modern world, and their ancient intimacy with death.
"Every so often a book comes along that captures people, landscape and place in such a perfect rendering that you would recognize the place. instantly... By the Lake now moves onto this very short list." - THE SEATTLE TIMES
"Deceptively wise. . . . Possesses the warm certainty of a writer who loves and respects every character .. rascals and heroes alike, and who wants to deliver them to us in all their dimensions." - THE BOSTON GLOBE
