This is an auction for THE LOST FATHER by Marina Warner.

"Shortlisted for the 1988 Booker Prize, this epic by the British author of In the Dark Wood and The Skating Party has all the ingredients for successful sales in the US. This multi-generational saga set in the south of Italy portrays a family altered irrevocably by its own myths. A fateful duel, a powerful patriarch and the binding affection among women are all presented in an ornate narrative that flows with rich descriptions. Readers should find this narrative both satisfying and nourishing, since its essential intelligence and quality of writing transcend the conventional family saga genre.

• Publishers Weekly (US)

"Like the needle her mother would burnish in a candle flame before probing for a splinter under her skin, memories of those days pierced her with sudden clarity": so begins Warner's new novel (her most recent being The Skating Party). These first words are taken from heroine Anna's memoir-in-progress, and as Anna proceeds with her family's story, the clarified strains of her memory become the novel we are reading, weaving and interweaving like a grand symphonic score. Along the way Anna recalls her southern Italian great-grandparents, Nunzia and Luigi Pittagora; Anna's grandfather Davide, whose bullet wound was caused, family tradition goes, by a duel over the honor of his sister Rose; and Anna's mother Fantina and her two sisters, with whom Anna is now reminiscing. This is a family saga of rare depth and dimension. Highly recommended."

• Library Journal (US)

Very favourable reviews on Amazon.com.

Paperback 1989.

277 pages.

Good condition.

The cost of shipping is $4.95.

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect this book from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.