Sunrise with Sea Monster

Imprisoned in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Donal Gore is sustained by memories of setting fishing lines on the beach with his father, back home in Ireland. Released from the Spanish prison by a German officer who expects political intelligence in return, Donal goes back to the family home on the rainswept promenade-to find his once powerful father dramatically changed. The moving and magical heart of the novel explores the hopeless inability of this father and son to express their feelings for each other, until the father is literally beyond language. And at the same time it centers on the poignant, fumbling, triangular relationship between father, son, and Rose, the beautiful young stepmother. Weaving together love and politics, sex and treachery, unsettling humor and vivid layers of memory, Sunrise with Sea Monster is a tour de force, back in print for the first time in years. Neil Jordanis the award-winning writer and director of such film asMona Lisa,The End of the Affair, andThe Crying Game, for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1993. He is also the author of three other novelsThe Past,The Dream of a Beast, andShadeand a short-story collection,Night in Tunisia. Imprisoned in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, Donal Gore is sustained by memories of setting fishing lines on the beach with his father, back home in Ireland. When he is released by a German officer who expects political intelligence in return, Gore returns to the family home on the rainswept promenade to find his once powerful father dramatically changed. Always hopelessly unable to express their feelings for each other, father and son now find themselves literally beyond language. And the fumbling, triangular relationship between the two men and Rose, Donal's beautiful young stepmother, becomes more fraught than ever. Weaving together love and politics, sex and treachery, unsettling humor and vivid layers of memory,Sunrise with Sea Monsteris a tour de force, now back in print for the first time in years. "A magnificent novel."Sunday Telegraph "Powerful and affecting."The Observer "A remarkable work: a story about sea fishing, piano music, fatherhood, betrayal, and the idea of a Republic. Neil Jordan, the filmmaker, writes fiction like a poet."New Statesman "A tender, lyrical book . . . Jordan writes with tremendous sensuality."The Guardian "Painful and poetic, as vivid any of the films [Jordan] has written and directed . . . A dazzling demonstration of Jordan's ability to express himself in words as well as images."Financial Times "Jordan has at last fulfilled the promise held out by his first published book, the marvelous collection of short storiesNight in Tunisia."The Sunday Times