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The Map Of Tenderness
On sale
17th February 2003
Price: £9.99
Joe Lyons has never had much success with relationships until he meets Suzie, a young music teacher. Living a solitary existence as a writer, he’s alienated his mother with his autobiographical first novel and has little to say to his stridently religious sister, Mary. Only his father keeps in regular touch. But now, in the warmth of this new love, the happy endings finally seem to outnumber the tragedies. So when news comes that his mother is seriously ill, he returns home, but what he finds there shocks him out of his complacency and Joe, like his father, comes to understand the true nature of love.
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Reviews
The novel works on many levels. As an examination of the tangled skeins of family allegiance, it is clear-headed to the point of ruthlessness. In its dissection of a fatal illness, it is both rigorous and humane. But it is the power and subtlety of the writing which sets The Map of Tenderness apart . . . With a few deft strokes, he can paint a picture of heart-stopping vividness
A dark and sensuous stylist ... He really is shaping up to be among the very best of the almost overabundant crop of Irish literary production during the last decade.
Eloquent and haunting
Engages richly and rather profoundly with love, death and life.
A moving portrait of a family, of discovery, and having the courage to believe in other people.
Moving [and] lyrical
The Map of Tenderness is a captivating story . . . the author is an Irish poet and it shows in his beautiful prose. It wraps you up as gently as a snowdrift.