''Love and Summer'' is a 2009

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by

William Trevor William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of sho ...

. It was long-listed for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. The story takes place in the fictitious town of Rathmoye in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the 1950s. It concerns the illicit love between a photographer and the young married wife of a farmer.

Plot summary

Ellie and her farmer husband Dillahan live a quiet life near the town of Rathmoye. She is a foundling who was raised in an orphanage by

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

nuns and is the second wife of Dillahan, who earlier had killed his first wife and child in an accident. During the funeral of Mrs Connulty at Rathmoye a stranger, Florian Kilderry, asks Ellie for direction to the burned down cinema, and their brief conversation is noticed by Miss Connulty, Mrs Connulty's spinster daughter, who determines that the two have struck out a love relationship based on this tenuous encounter. Florian, a photographer, and Ellie begin to notice each other and soon a love affair spanning the languid summer takes place, as the couple remember their lives lived up to that point.

Reception

Upon release, ''Love and Summer'' was generally well-received. On ''The Omnivore'', based on British press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 4.5 out of 5. ''Culture Critic'' gave it an aggregated critic score of 87 percent based on British and American press reviews. In

Bookmarks A bookmark is used to keep one's place in a printed work. It can also refer to: * Bookmark (digital), a pointer in a web browser and other software * ''Bookmarks'' (album), 2013 album by Five for Fighting * ''Bookmarks'' (magazine), an American ...

November/December 2009 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary saying, "Trevor is a master storyteller, and ''Love and Summer'' exhibits all the hallmarks of his most luminous works: his stark and graceful prose; his profound insight into the human heart; and his hauntingly authentic characters, precisely sketched in just a few short lines".

References

2009 Irish novels Viking Press books Works by William Trevor Novels set in the 1950s {{2000s-hist-novel-stub