Late in the Day - Hardcover

Hadley, Tessa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062476696 ISBN 13: 9780062476692

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2019

Synopsis

"With each new book by Tessa Hadley, I grow more convinced that she's one of the greatest stylists alive."--Ron Charles, Washington Post

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice -A Parnassus First Editions Club Pick - Powell's Indispensable Book Club Pick

The lives of two close-knit couples are irrevocably changed by an untimely death in the latest from Tessa Hadley, the acclaimed novelist and short story master who "recruits admirers with each book" (Hilary Mantel).

Alexandr and Christine and Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their twenties. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer's evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: she is at the hospital. Zach is dead.

In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn't afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of loss bringing them closer, the three of them find over the following months that it warps their relationships, as old entanglements and grievances rise from the past, and love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness.

Late in the Day explores the complex webs at the center of our most intimate relationships, to expose how, beneath the seemingly dependable arrangements we make for our lives, lie infinite alternate configurations. Ingeniously moving between past and present and through the intricacies of her characters' thoughts and interactions, Tessa Hadley once again "crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural" (Washington Post).

About this title

Review:

"Perceptive, finely wrought.... Hadley is a writer of the first order, and this novel gives her the opportunity to explore, with profound incisiveness and depth, the inevitable changes inherent to long-lasting marriages."--Publishers Weekly

"A layered and compelling read."--Booklist

"Riveting.... A four-person character study--here as always, Hadley is a master of interpersonal dynamics--the novel captures the complexity of loss."--Kirkus, starred review

"In the fine tradition of women's fiction by authors such as Margaret Drabble, Penelope Lively, and Rachel Cusk exploring relationships among the cultured classes, Hadley's place is secure."--Library Journal, starred review

"Tessa Hadley is well-known for her inimitable portrayal of character and her latest effort, Late in the Day, is no disappointment.... A smart exploration of human nature, desire, and friendship."--Vanity Fair

"The British novelist does what she does best: excavate the tensions and traumas that linger in the most seemingly normal families and relationships."--Huffington Post

"A domestic drama of the first order. The marriages are characters in themselves; going through transformative arcs of their own."--Refinery29

"An excellent place to start if you haven't yet discovered Tessa Hadley."--Book Riot

"[Hadley] is a gifted anatomist of human relationships, with those among family members being her specialty. Her particular genius lies in the elegance and precision with which she captures the fleeting emotion, the passing, indefinable perception or tiny epiphany."--Katherine Powers, Wall Street Journal

"Gorgeous, utterly absorbing.... More than many of her contemporaries, the British writer Tessa Hadley understands that life is full of moments when the past presses up against the present, and when the present transforms the past. Her brilliant new novel, Late in the Day, explores both with equal urgency."--Margot Livesey, Boston Globe

From the Back Cover:

Alexandr and Christine and Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their twenties. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer's evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: she is at the hospital. Zach is dead.

In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn't afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of loss bringing them closer over the following months, the three find that it warps their relationships, as old entanglements and grievances rise from the past, and love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0062476696
• ISBN 13: 9780062476692
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 273