num_pages: 336
description: With this magnificently assured new novel, John McGahern reminds us why he has been called the Irish Chekhov, as he guides readers 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 look-out 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, their ancient intimacy with death.
language: English
title: By the Lake
titlecomplete: By the Lake
characters: Joe Ruttledge, Kate Ruttledge
genres: Ireland, Irish Literature, 21st Century, Modern Classics, Novels, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Modern
ratings_count: 2444
places: Ireland
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award
category: Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Dublin Literary Award
category: Shortlist
publisher: Vintage