num_pages: 176
description: A classic novel of family, isolation, and a blighted Ireland from the Man Booker-prize winning author of The Sea— about the end of innocence for a boy and his country. I am therefore I think . So starts John Banville’s 1973 novel Birchwood , a novel that centers around Gabriel Godkin and his return to his dilapidated family estate. After years away, Gabriel returns to a house filled with memories and despair. Delving deep into family secrets—a cold father, a tortured mother, an insane grandmother—Gabriel also recalls his first encounters with love and loss. Birchwood is a remarkable and complex story, told in the brilliantly styled prose of one of our most essential writers.
language: English
title: Birchwood
titlecomplete: Birchwood (Vintage International)
genres: Fiction, 20th Century, Classics, Ireland, Contemporary, Irish Literature, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 631
awards: awardedAt: 94723200000
name: Allied Irish Banks' Prize
publisher: Vintage