Items related to Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution (Vintage Contemporar...

Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution (Vintage Contemporaries) - Softcover

 
9780375701313: Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution (Vintage Contemporaries)
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
When Ambrose Tree is summoned by his ancient uncle to the brooding mansion Drogo Hall, he suspects it's to hear the old man's dying words and then collect a sizable inheritance. He has no idea he is about to learn the bizarre story of Harry Peake, Cornish smuggler turned poet who became a monster capable of the most horrifying acts. Or that he's about to become psychologically enmeshed in the riveting life of Harry's daughter, Martha, who flees her father for colonial America where she becomes a heroic figure in the revolution against England. Or that he himself has a crucial role to play in this mesmerizing tale as it rushes headlong and hauntingly toward its powerful climax. Martha Peake is a spellbinding alloy of Gothic mystery and historical romance.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
"It is a black art, the writing is history, is it not?" So begins Patrick McGrath's gripping novel, Martha Peake, that takes the reader back into the heady revolutionary days of London and America in the 1770s. The story begins in the early 19th century, with the young Ambrose Tree paying a visit to his dying uncle William, Lord of the forbidding Drogo Hall, former residence of "the great anatomist Lord Drogo". Assuming that he is to inherit his uncle's estate, Ambrose instead finds himself drawn into his uncle's extraordinary story of Harry Peake and his headstrong young daughter, Martha Peake.

Harry, "to whom Nature in her folly gave the soul of a smuggler, and the tongue of a poet", is a Cornish smuggler, horrifically mutilated in a fire that kills his wife and disperses his children. Only the brave little Martha stands by her father, and follows him to London, where he becomes the "Cripplegate Monster". Harry recites his poetry and displays his hideously deformed body in the taverns and stews of London's underworld, but soon comes to the apparently sinister attentions of Lord Drogo, who "wanted him for his Museum of Anatomy". As father and daughter are inextricably drawn into Drogo's world, Harry turns to drink, catastrophically abusing Martha and sending her fleeing to America, where she becomes tragically embroiled in the struggle for independence from England. However, as the novel reaches its shocking climax, Ambrose gradually realises that the fate of both father and daughter is much closer to home than he can ever imagine.

Martha Peake is a wonderful story of "sacrifice and abomination and heroism and resolve and victory", a compelling and intelligent novel in the best 19th-century tradition of Dickens, whose literary ghost haunts the pages as powerfully as that of the memorable figure of Harry Peake and his tragic daughter. --Jerry Brotton

Review:
"An uncommon storyteller . . . . McGrath demonstrates his trademark ability to probe the layers of the human psyche." -San Francisco Chronicle

"Unputdownable." -The Washington Post

"A sweeping mytho-historical novel par excellence . . . ." -Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[Martha Peake] has rare qualities of power and urgency. . . . [Readers] are carried along by the eloquence and the energy and the brilliantly managed narrative pace." -The New York Times Book Review

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherVintage
  • Publication date2002
  • ISBN 10 0375701311
  • ISBN 13 9780375701313
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages384
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780375500817: Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780375500817
Publisher: Random House Inc, 2000
Hardcover

  • 9780670891283: Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

    Viking, 2000
    Hardcover

  • 9782070426249: Martha Peake: A42624 (Folio)

    Gallimard, 2003
    Pocket Book

  • 9780140291391: Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

    Penguin, 2001
    Softcover

  • 9780141001098: Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

    Penguin, 2001
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Soft Cover Quantity: 10
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780375701313

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 10.50
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

MCGRATH, PATRICK
Published by Penguin Random House (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0375701311

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 8.23
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.16
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Patrick McGrath
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. When Ambrose Tree is summoned by his ancient uncle to the brooding mansion Drogo Hall, he suspects its to hear the old mans dying words and then collect a sizable inheritance. He has no idea he is about to learn the bizarre story of Harry Peake, Cornish smuggler turned poet who became a monster capable of the most horrifying acts. Or that hes about to become psychologically enmeshed in the riveting life of Harrys daughter, Martha, who flees her father for colonial America where she becomes a heroic figure in the revolution against England. Or that he himself has a crucial role to play in this mesmerizing tale as it rushes headlong and hauntingly toward its powerful climax. Martha Peake is a spellbinding alloy of Gothic mystery and historical romance. From the desolate wharves of London to the wild stretches of the New World, master storyteller McGrath maps out a vast saga of revolt and renewal--the story of one sublime heroine, but also of the birth of America. A "New York Times" Notable Book. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780375701313

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 14.69
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Patrick McGrath
Published by Random House (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: 3
Seller:
Books Puddle
(New York, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 26738355

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 12.61
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.16
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0375701311

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 18.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.17
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: 15
Seller:

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # V9780375701313

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 16.04
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 9
From Ireland to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0375701311

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 21.78
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.37
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0375701311

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 23.85
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.41
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: 15
Seller:
Kennys Bookstore
(Olney, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # V9780375701313

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 19.04
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 8.32
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

McGrath, Patrick
Published by Vintage (2002)
ISBN 10: 0375701311 ISBN 13: 9780375701313
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.7. Seller Inventory # Q-0375701311

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 47.02
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.27
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book