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  • Published: 5 October 2017
  • ISBN: 9780241977125
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368

Mrs Osmond




A rich historical novel about the aftermath of betrayal, from the Booker prize-winner

'What was freedom, she thought, other than the right to exercise one's choices?'
Isabel Osmond, a spirited, intelligent young heiress, flees to London after being betrayed by her husband, to be with her beloved cousin Ralph on his deathbed. After a sombre, silent existence at her husband's Roman palazzo, Isabel's daring escape to London reawakens her youthful quest for freedom and independence, as old suitors resurface and loyal friends remind her of happier times.

But soon Isabel must decide whether to return to Rome to face up to the web of deceit in which she has become entangled, or to strike out on her own once more.

  • Published: 5 October 2017
  • ISBN: 9780241977125
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368

About the author

John Banville

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1945. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970. His other books are Nightspawn; Birchwood; Doctor Copernicus, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1976; Kepler, which was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1981; The Newton Letter, which was filmed for Channel 4; Mefisto and The Book of Evidence, which was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize and won the 1989 Guinness Peat Aviation Award. John Banville is literary editor of the Irish Times and lives in London with his wife and two sons.

Also by John Banville

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Praise for Mrs Osmond

A brilliant feat of literary ventriloquism... Richly enjoyable and enthralling, this exercise in creative empathy is a sequel of very high finish

Sunday Times

A worthy sequel... His book is not only an impressive recreation of James's atmospheres and pacing, but also full of minor cliff-hangers and page-turning suspenses that keep you guessing

Observer

An astonishing act of literary ventriloquism

Observer Books of the Year

Banville is one of the writers I admire the most - few people can create an image as beautifully or precisely

Hanya Yanagihara, author of the Booker-shortlisted 'A Little Life'

Banville's sequel to Henry James's "Portrait of a Lady" follows Isabel Archer back to Rome and the possible end of her marriage

New York Times Books of the Year

It's brilliant. It's John Banville camouflaged as Henry James - it's very, very interesting

Cillian Murphy, star of Peaky Blinders and Dunkirk

John Banville channelled Henry James in the Portrait of a Lady sequel

Guardian Books of the Year

John Banville has long been the most distinctive Irish novelist of his generation

Irish Independent

John Banville is one of the best novelists in English, and an expert ventriloquist, among other things . . . Mrs Osmond is both a remarkable novel in its own right and a superb pastiche

Edmund White, Guardian

John Banville is simply the finest writer at work today, a prolific prose stylist whose work has only deepened in quality throughout his career

John Boyne, Irish Times

This is a superbly written novel ... Mrs Osmond represents an important contribution to Banville's impressive oeuvre

Evening Standard

Uncannily good at replicating James's style, it pays appealing tribute to his genius

Sunday Times Books of the Year

Written with near-Jamesian elegance

Mail on Sunday