Author | Graham Swift |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Publisher |
Picador (UK) Knopf (US) |
Publication date | 1992 |
Pages | 261 |
ISBN | 0-330-32331-8 |
Ever After is a novel by British author Graham Swift published in 1992 by Picador, containing 'repeated intertextual invocations' of Hamlet. [1]
Academic Bill Unwin sits in his college room, recovering from his suicide attempt and thinking back over his life. Starting with his childhood in Paris where his aloof father successfully committed suicide, and his mother had a relationship with an American, Sam who made a fortune in plastics and then became his stepfather. The narration them moves to 1950's Soho where Bill marries Ruth, an actress who later dies of lung cancer. Throughout his life Bill never reconciled himself to his successful stepfather, who attempts and fails to build bridges with Bill. The other strand is the private notebooks of a Victorian predecessor Matthew Pearce which are entrusted to Bill. They notebooks show the breakdown of his relationship with his wife and father-in-law over his unshakeable belief in Darwinism, and Bill tries to square them with his own identity.
Author | Graham Swift |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Publisher |
Picador (UK) Knopf (US) |
Publication date | 1992 |
Pages | 261 |
ISBN | 0-330-32331-8 |
Ever After is a novel by British author Graham Swift published in 1992 by Picador, containing 'repeated intertextual invocations' of Hamlet. [1]
Academic Bill Unwin sits in his college room, recovering from his suicide attempt and thinking back over his life. Starting with his childhood in Paris where his aloof father successfully committed suicide, and his mother had a relationship with an American, Sam who made a fortune in plastics and then became his stepfather. The narration them moves to 1950's Soho where Bill marries Ruth, an actress who later dies of lung cancer. Throughout his life Bill never reconciled himself to his successful stepfather, who attempts and fails to build bridges with Bill. The other strand is the private notebooks of a Victorian predecessor Matthew Pearce which are entrusted to Bill. They notebooks show the breakdown of his relationship with his wife and father-in-law over his unshakeable belief in Darwinism, and Bill tries to square them with his own identity.