Items related to A Jest of God (Virago Modern Classics)
'Rachel- is it serious?'...
So that's it. I ought to have seen. She's wondering- what will become of me? That's what everyone goes through life wondering, probably, the one absorbing anguish. What will become of me? Me.'
Rachel Cameron, thirty-four and unmarried, is trapped by the stifling conventionality of small-town Canadian life as a shy, retiring schoolmistress and dependable helpmeet to her coy and overbearing invalid mother. Desperate for love and companionship, she risks all in an affair with a man for whom sex and love are more trivial matters- and it changes Rachel's life in unforseen ways. First published in 1966, this is the second of Margaret Lawrence's famous Manakawa series of novels, and a powerful exploration of loneliness, desire and the pain of disappointment.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
'A Jest of God holds a special place for me ... I found it an almost perfect book, in that it did what it set out to do, with no gaps and no excesses. Like a pool or a well, it covers a small area but goes down deep ... plain, self-contained, elegant in form, holding within it the essentials of life' Margaret Atwood.
'Authentic and powerful. The dialogue is full of nice ironies and the narrative finely paced' TLS.
'It's not hard to see why its female readers welcomed and cherished it ... this is not a feel-good book but Rachel is portrayed with exceptional insight and subtlety which feel relevant still' Sunday Herald.
'Laurence remains, for many readers, the defining conscious of 20th-century Canadian literary fiction as well as a major influence on Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood. It is easy to see why ... This stylistically sophisticated narrative [is] tender and sympathetic but never sentimental' Irish Times.
From the Back Cover:
'Authentic and powerful. The dialogue is full of nice ironies and the narrative finely paced' TLS.
'It's not hard to see why its female readers welcomed and cherished it ... this is not a feel-good book but Rachel is portrayed with exceptional insight and subtlety which feel relevant still' Sunday Herald.
'Laurence remains, for many readers, the defining conscious of 20th-century Canadian literary fiction as well as a major influence on Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood. It is easy to see why ... This stylistically sophisticated narrative [is] tender and sympathetic but never sentimental' Irish Times.
For years Rachel Cameron has dreamed of leaving her small town and manipulative mother; but duty and caution have kept her at home. At thirty-four, she finally confronts passion and death, and realizes that she cannot continue to sacrifice love and freedom, but needs both to survive. Rachel's passage toward self-discovery is one we will all recognize - one that is exciting, sad, funny, and true.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherVirago
- Publication date2007
- ISBN 10 1844085341
- ISBN 13 9781844085347
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages224
- Rating
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