Search results for ""Author Michèle Forbes""

Edith and Oliver fell in love after meeting in the glitzy world of the music hall in its Edwardian heyday. Edith is a spirited young woman who plays the piano by night; Oliver is an illusionist who dreams of touring the world, of pioneering ground-breaking illusions that will bring him fame and fortune.But their children arrive as the world begins to change, as cinemas crowd the high street and the draw of the music hall wanes. Oliver - drinking too much and haunted by the death of his mother - becomes desperate for one final illusion that will put his name in lights. As he loses his grip on reality, will his family pay the ultimate price? 'Forbes imbues [Edith & Oliver] with such wit and tenderness . . . a pleasure to read' Sunday Times 'Engaging . . . astute . . . striking' Irish Times 'Forbes writes beautifully on the hard, peripatetic reality of theatre life behind the greasepaint and glamour. She is also particularly insightful on the internal torment of a man brought down by the slow growth of self-deception . . . shimmering' Daily Mail

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During the summer of 1969, Northern Ireland, found itself on the brink of civil war as Irish Catholic Republicans and Protestant Loyalists clashed violently in what has become known as “The Troubles.” While Forbes doesn’t elaborate on the political dimension of this historically significant conflict, she beautifully renders the emotional and psychic trauma felt by both children and adults on the periphery of the violence.Like bestselling novelists Ann-Marie MacDonald and Tana French, Forbes is also an actress who brings finely honed dramatic skills to her fiction. In this masterful debut, Forbes draws on those talents as well as her early memories of Belfast and background as a literary critic to explore the insidious nature of memory and secrets, the power of forgiveness, the ravages of illness, and the preciousness of the “here and now.”Beginning with the title, which comes from a fable Katherine passes down to her children about the souls of the dead taking the form of ghost moths just waiting to be caught, this novel masterfully couples poetic descriptions with real-world psychological tension. Shifting in time between 1949 and 1969, Forbes’ characters experience love in all its guises: the unrequited, the illicit, the maternal, the unconditional.

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