The Promise of Happiness by Justin Cartwright
The Judds, formerly of London N1, now scattered, are about to be thrown together again by the eldest child Juliet's release from prison in New York. The family is devastated by Juliet's conviction for art theft. The nature of this theft and the reasons for it plague all the protagonists. For Charles, the father, it is a challenge to his sense of rightness and proof of the disintegration of society. For his wife Daphne, it is a source of resentment and puzzlement. Brother Charlie and sister Sophie are less worried by the morality of the theft than by the dissolution of the certainties of family. For Juliet herself is bitter and wounded at being the scapegoat for a victimless crime. And she feels guilty for the pain she has caused. A powerful elegy to the idiocies and intimacies of family love, this is the captivating story of an apparently ordinary English family caught up in uncontrollable events, united again, as much by apprehension as celebration on the return of the prodigal daughter.
'Justin Cartwright is one of our best novelists, but he still feels like a buried treasure' Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year 'Brilliant, dazzling, unsettling; subtle and haunting; complex and multi-layered; deeply moving... Cartwright manages to combine the thrilling readability of genre fiction with the unpredictability and strangeness of a literary master.' Independent on Sunday 'Cartwright is a beautifully evocative writer; also one who makes you think.' Scotsman
Justin Cartwright's novels include the Booker-shortlisted In Every Face I Meet, the Whitbread Novel Award-winner Leading the Cheers and the acclaimed White Lightning which was shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Novel Award. Justin Cartwright was born in South Africa, and now lives in Islington, London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780747570349 |
| ISBN 10 | 0747570345 |
| Title | The Promise of Happiness |
| Author | Justin Cartwright |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2004-08-16 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Winner of Hawthornden Prize 2005 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |