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      Paperback The Blackwater Lightship Book
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      ISBN: 0743203313

      ISBN13: 9780743203319

      The Blackwater Lightship

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      Format: Hardcover

      Condition: Acceptable

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      Book Overview

      From the author of The Master and Brooklyn, Colm T ib n weaves together the lives of three generations of estranged women as they reunite to witness and mourn the death of a brother, a son, and a grandson.

      It is Ireland in the early 1990s. Helen, her mother, Lily, and her grandmother, Dora, have come together to tend to Helen's brother, Declan, who is dying of AIDS. With Declan's two friends, the six of them are forced to plumb the shoals of their own histories and to come to terms with each other.​

      Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Blackwater Lightship is a deeply resonant story about three generations of an estranged family reuniting to mourn an untimely death. In spare, luminous prose, Colm T ib n explores the nature of love and the complex emotions inside a family at war with itself. Hailed as "a genuine work of art" (Chicago Tribune), this is a novel about the capacity of stories to heal the deepest wounds.

      Related Subjects

      Colonization Cultural Differences Ethics And Morality Friendship Healing From Trauma Interstellar Travel Love And Relationships Survival Faith And Doubt Adventure

      Customer Reviews

      4 customer ratings | 4 reviews
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      Rated 4 stars
      An intense exploration of the ties that bind.

      By Thriftbooks.com User,

      Colm Toibin cuts straight to the heart in this sensitive novel of an independent daughter, long estranged from her overly controlling mother, and their attempt to reach some sort of understanding and level of communication. Daughter Helen and mother Lily are drawn to the neutral ground of Helen's grandmother's house in rural Ireland when Helen's brother Declan is gravely ill with AIDS and wants to return to the strand for...

      1Report

      Rated 5 stars
      Love, Family, AIDS and Dysfunction

      By Thriftbooks.com User,

      Helen O'Doherty lives in Dublin with her husband and two sons. She is a school principal and set with her life. She is happy and even though she may be a bit more reserved in her marriage than her husband would like, all seems well. When school is over she and her hubby plan a large party in their new home to celebrate. Her husband and children will go the next day to visit relatives, and Helen will follow when she clears...

      0Report

      Rated 5 stars
      Touching

      By Thriftbooks.com User,

      I am part of a newly started book club. The novel "The Blackwater lightship" by Colm Tóibín (shortlisted for the Booker Prize) was chosen as the second book to read (my first - as I have just joined the club). The number of girls attending our dinners vary between 3 and 12, all Australian but me. As I joined late, my friend Rachael had already finished the book. She did not care too much for it, so I started out slightly biased...

      0Report

      Rated 5 stars
      Quietly sensitive and enduring piece of work

      By Thriftbooks.com User,

      Colm Toibin's "Blackwater Lightship" is arguably the dark horse in this year's Booker Prize race. The three generation family drama at the heart of this deceptively slight novel may not set any sparks flying but chances are you'd still be thinking of it long after the story has ended and settled into a warm afterglow. Toibin is an unflashy writer. He aims straight for your heart and succeeds in a disarmingly off-the-cuff way...

      0Report

      Rated 5 stars
      An intense exploration of the ties that bind.

      By Thriftbooks.com User,

      Colm Toibin cuts straight to the heart in this sensitive novel of an independent daughter, long estranged from her overly controlling mother, and their attempt to reach some sort of understanding and level of communication. Daughter Helen and mother Lily are drawn to the neutral ground of Helen's grandmother's house in rural Ireland when Helen's brother Declan is gravely ill with AIDS and wants to return to the strand for...

      0Report

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