The Map of Tenderness

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ISBN: 0340822147 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 17/2/2003
£6.99 RRP Paperback

In his mid-thirties, Joe Lyons leads a solitary life in an Irish city as a writer, having never had much luck with relationships - including with his own family, whom he has alienated with his autobiographical first novel. So when Joe falls in love with a young music teacher, he can’t believe his luck. But, just as he is beginning to trust Suzie’s feelings for him, the news comes that his mother is seriously ill. When he returns to the family farm he discovers she has the hereditary Huntington's Disease. A terrible fate seems in store, with profound implications for Joe's future with Suzie, for Joe's ardently religious sister Clare, and for their father. Just as Joe is trying to decide whether to take the test that will either reprieve or sentence him, and whether he should cut himself off from Suzie, his father helps his mother die. For Joe's sister it is a critical crisis of conscience. For Joe it is a lesson in love and self-sacrifice, which he must now apply. Does he love Suzie enough to give her up or does he accept that she loves him enough to stay with him?

‘'The novel works on many levels. As an examination of the tangled skeins of family allegiance, it is clear-headed to the point of ruthlessness. In its dissection of a fatal illness, it is both rigorous and humane. But it is the power and subtlety of the writing which sets The Map of Tenderness apart ...With a few deft strokes, he can paint a picture of heart-stopping vividness’

Rights: USA