Book cover of Fools of Fortune

Book description

Penguin Classics is proud to welcome William Trevor—"Ireland’s answer to Chekhov" (The Boston Globe) and "one of the best writers of our era" (The Washington Post)—to our distinguished list of literary masters. In this award-winning novel, an informer’s body is found on the estate of a wealthy Irish family shortly…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Fools of Fortune as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Spanning the decades between the 1920s and 1980s, this is the story of the Quintons of Kilneagh, County Cork, Protestant mill-owners but supporters of the Irish independence cause; of the revenge taken on them by the Black and Tans; and of its life-skewing consequences for the survivors of Kilneagh. The Quintons’ son, Willie, is confronted with an almost indescribable fork in the road: should he avenge the family for the Black and Tans’ atrocities? Or should he search his heart for forgiveness? His decision takes an enormous toll on his character, with ramifications for his ability to be truly close…

From Michael's list on to confront the forks in life’s road.

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Famed Australian literary critic Peter Craven has included Mural in his best books for 2024. He called it "dark and brilliant." Rod McLary in the Queensland Reviewers Collective says it's "breath-taking," a "tour de force of literary fiction." On her blog This Reading Life, Brona was "fascinated" by this confession…

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