Synopses & Reviews
From Beth Lordan, the critically acclaimed author of
August Heat and And
Both Shall Row comes
But Come Ye Back, an evocative and heartfelt novel in stories that explores the rhythms of marriage over three decades.
Mary Curtin, a young Irish nanny, and Lyle Sullivan, an American accountant, meet and fall in love at a picnic. For thirty-some years, Lyle, an impatient and demanding husband, makes a life for them in America. Through those years the accommodating Mary makes a home for them, where they raise two sons. But when Lyle retires, Ireland calls to Mary: she wants to grow old among her own kind, where the ocean is near and the butter has flavor. She wants to go home.
Somewhat grudgingly, Lyle agrees, but during their years in Galway, they discover that the surprises of life are not over. Going home is more complicated than butter and the bay, and thirty contented years does not mean that a couple is immune to romantic intrigue. Their bond is tested when Lyle meets a beautiful American woman and Mary finds a lonely Irish man. Yet for both, marriage is more than romance, home is more than a country. In this new life, Mary and Lyle will rediscover each other and are building a richer life together when an unexpected event forces Lyle to decide where his home truly is.
Lordan's stirring novel illuminates the complex emotional terrain of mature marital relationships, providing an unforgettable testament to the lifelong journey undertaken when lives intersect and intertwine. Masterful in its evocation of character and place, and suffused with the rhythms and flavors of the Irish seaside, But Come Ye Back is an astonishing and infinitely wise reflection on love in all its guises.
Review
"Lordan is an exceptionally gifted writer whose voice brings out each character with depth, clarity, and feeling; her earlier works have been acclaimed for their accomplished prose, and this one is no less praiseworthy." Library Journal
Review
"[Q]uietly remarkable....There's nothing flashy here, but each image, moment, and word counts and builds as the characters' lives overlap overlap in connections the more powerful for their subtlety." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[G]entle, understated novel....[A] quietly engaging effort." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A delicate, understated, yet deeply affecting series of stories." Booklist
Review
"The emerald moors of Ireland lie a long way from the wheat fields of Carbondale, Ill., where Beth Lordan teaches writing. But this masterful storyteller knows all about spanning distances that seem unfathomable. Her new novel, inspired by a sabbatical in Galway, records the persistence of affection between a man and woman who remain strikingly different over their 30-year marriage....Part of the miracle of Lordan's fierce tenderness is her ability to catch melodies of comedy even through strains of grief." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire Christian Science Monitor review)
Synopsis
A gorgeous collection of interconnected stories revolves around love and marriage, from the O. Henry Award-winning author of And Both Shall Row.
About the Author
Beth Lordan is the author of the novel August Heat and the short-story collection And Both Shall Row. Her short fiction has appeared in The Best of American Short Stories 2002, the Atlantic Monthly, and Gettysburg Review, as well as on NPR's Selected Shorts. The recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as an O. Henry Award for her short fiction, Lordan teaches fiction writing at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She lives in Carbondale, Illinois, with her husband.