A man attempts to escape a recent loss while confronting a trauma from a long lost summer, in John Banville’s haunting and evocative novel.

Led back to Ballyless by a dream, Max Morden returns to the coastal town where he spent a holiday in his youth. The Grace family appeared that long-ago summer as if from another world. Drawn to the twins, Chloe and Myles, Max soon found himself entangled in their lives, which were as seductive as they were unsettling. What ensued haunts him for the rest of his years and shapes everything that is to follow.

Winner
The Man Booker Prize 2005
Published by
Picador
Publication date

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John Banville

John Banville

About the Author

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His novel The Sea won the 2005 Booker Prize.
More about John Banville

Other nominated books by John Banville

Shroud
The Book of Evidence