Set in late 1980s Europe at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Black Dogs is the intimate story of the crumbling of a marriage, as witnessed by an outsider.
Set in late 1980s Europe at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Black Dogs is the intimate story of the crumbling of a marriage, as witnessed by an outsider.
Set in late 1980s Europe at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Black Dogs is the intimate story of the crumbling of a marriage, as witnessed by an outsider.Jeremy is the son-in-law of Bernard and June Tremaine, whose union and estrangement began almost simultaneously. Seeking to comprehend how their deep love could be defeated by ideological differences Bernard and June cannot reconcile, Jeremy undertakes writing June’s memoirs, only to be led back again and again to one terrifying encounter 40 years earlier – a moment that, for June, was as devastating and irreversible in its consequences as the changes sweeping Europe in Jeremy’s own time.In a finely crafted, compelling examination of evil and grace, Ian McEwan weaves the sinister reality of civilisation’s darkest moods – its black dogs – with the tensions that both create love and destroy it.
'The novel's vision of Europe is acute and alive, vivid in its moral complexities ... we are conquered by the humanity, the urgency, of the novel's characters.' -- New York Times Book Review
'Each scene is brilliantly lit, and has a characteristically strange fascination as Ian McEwan juxtaposes "huge and tiny currents" to show the ways in which individuals react to history.' -- New York Review of Books
From his first published work, 1975’s Somerset Maugham Award-winning short story collection First Love, Last Rites, to his acclaimed novels, including Atonement, On Chesil Beach and 1998’s Man Booker Prize-winning Amsterdam, Ian McEwan’s stories have captured and provoked the imaginations of readers worldwide. His numerous accolades – Whitbread Novel of the Year (The Child in Time), National Book Critics’ Circle Fiction Award and Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (Atonement), multiple Man Booker Prize short-listings and a CBE – are testament to a lifetime dedicated to his craft. Beyond his much-celebrated novels and short stories, he has written successful plays, children’s books and screenplays, and several of his books have been translated to screen, including Christopher Hampton’s 2007 adaptation of Atonement and his own 2017 adaptations of On Chesil Beach and The Children Act. His immeasurable contributions to the arts have been acknowledged via multiple honorary titles, awards and fellowships, including recognition by the Royal Society of Literature and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Philip Franks is an English actor and theatre director. Philip was born in London and first fell in love with theatre at age six, when his parents took him along to see a production of The Tempest. The following year, he insisted on going with them again to see a production of Hamlet, and at age seven, he was hooked for life. Philip is perhaps best known for his roles as tax inspector Cedric 'Charley' Charlton in the British sitcom The Darling Buds of May, and Sgt. Raymond Craddock on Heartbeat. He has also made guest appearances in Absolutely Fabulous, Pie in the Sky, Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.
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