After Rain

? Chosen by the editors of The New York Times Book Review as one of the eight best books of 1996, and by the Boston Globe as one of the six best books of fiction of 1996 ? Appeared on several bestseller lists, including The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Village Voice Literary Supplement ? William Trevor was the recipient of a 1996 Lannan Literary Award for fiction ? Felicia?s Journey, William Trevor?s previous national bestseller, won England?s prestigious Whitbread Fiction Prize and the Sunday Express Prize. ? American Library Association Notable Book William Trevor has long been hailed as one of the greatest living writers of the short story. In this collection of twelve dazzling, acutely rendered tales, he once again plumbs the depths of the human heart. Here we meet a blind piano tuner whose wonderful memories of his first wife are cruelly distorted by his second; a woman in a difficult marriage who must chose between her indignant husband and her closest friend; two children, survivors of divorce, who mimic their parents? melodramas; a heartbroken woman traveling alone in Italy who experiences an epiphany studying a forgotten artist?s Annunciation. Trevor is, in his own words, ?a storyteller. My fiction may, now and again, illuminate aspects of the human condition, but I do not consciously set out to do so.? Conscious or not, he touches us in ways that few writers even dare to try.

"The characters in these 12 short stories are small-time thieves, children coping with their parents' divorces, spouses remaining married to unfaithful partners, a mother with a possibly sociopathic son, an uncle dealing with his niece's unexpected pregnancy by reporting that 'Mulreavy would marry her if they paid him.' To match this range of personalities—and Trevor's characters quickly acquire fully-formed personalities —comes a variety of voices. Trevor is bittersweet, for example, when children act out some of the sordid adult doings: ''Cold evening, Mrs. Edwina.' I hope you're not planning a love nest. I don't want no filth in my house.'' He is equally convincing with rural Irish brogue as with London cockney. Yet though these are people one feels one knows, they remain essentially inscrutable—to each other as well as to the reader. By turns warm, humorous, nostalgic, and chilling, these stories are superbly Grafted and memorable." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)

Twelve remarkable stories by the master storyteller William Trevor
"There is no better short story writer in the English-speaking world." Wall Street Journal
In this collection of twelve dazzling, acutely rendered tales, William Trevor plumbs the depths of the human heart. Here we encounter a blind piano tuner whose wonderful memories of his first wife are cruelly distorted by his second; a woman in a difficult marriage who must choose between her indignant husband and her closest friend; two children, survivors of divorce, who mimic their parents' melodramas; and a heartbroken woman traveling alone in Italy who experiences an epiphany while studying a forgotten artist's Annunciation. Trevor is, in his own words, "a storyteller. My fiction may, now and again, illuminate aspects of the human condition, but I do not consciously set out to do so."
Conscious or not, he touches us in ways that few writers even dare to try. Trevorwrote eighteen novels and novellas, and hundreds of short stories, for which he has won a number of prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement. In 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature."

Twelve remarkable stories by the master storyteller William Trevor. Last Stories is forthcoming from Viking.

"There is no better short story writer in the English-speaking world."--Wall Street Journal

In this collection of twelve dazzling, acutely rendered tales, William Trevor plumbs the depths of the human heart. Here we encounter a blind piano tuner whose wonderful memories of his first wife are cruelly distorted by his second; a woman in a difficult marriage who must choose between her indignant husband and her closest friend; two children, survivors of divorce, who mimic their parents' melodramas; and a heartbroken woman traveling alone in Italy who experiences an epiphany while studying a forgotten artist's Annunciation. Trevor is, in his own words, "a storyteller. My fiction may, now and again, illuminate aspects of the human condition, but I do not consciously set out to do so."

Conscious or not, he touches us in ways that few writers even dare to try. Trevor wrote eighteen novels and novellas, and hundreds of short stories, for which he has won a number of prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement. In 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature.

William Trevor is the author of twenty-nine books, including Felicia’s Journey, which won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and was made into a motion picture. In 1996 he was the recipient of the Lannan Award for Fiction. In 2001, he won the Irish Times Literature Prize for fiction. Two of his books were chosen by The New York Times as best books of the year, and his short stories appear regularly in the New Yorker. In 1997, he was named Honorary Commander of the British Empire. He lives in Devon, England.

The Piano Tuner's Wives

A Friendship

Timothy's Birthday

Child's Play

A Bit of Business

After Rain

Widows

Gilbert's Mother

The Potato Dealer

Lost Ground

A Day

Marrying Damian