With Midwinter Break, a moving portrait of retired couple Gerry and Stella Gilmore's marriage in crisis, Bernard MacLaverty reminds us why he is regarded as one of the greatest living Irish writers. Through accurate, compassionate observation and effortlessly elegant writing, MacLaverty reveals the long-unspoken insecurities that exist between Gerry and Stella over their four-day holiday in Amsterdam, crafting a profound examination of human love.

About the Author
Bernard MacLaverty is the author of five previous collections of stories and five novels, including Grace Notes, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Midwinter Break, shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Born in Ireland, he now lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Reviews
"Sure-handed and captivating." -- The Washington Post
"Utterly gripping.... This is a quietly brilliant novel, which makes for essential reading." -- Guardian
"[A] tender, affecting novel.... MacLaverty's gorgeous prose is tactile and understated... and the poignancy of his story fills the reader with yearning." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune
"An artist with a subtle feel for the ordinary, MacLaverty's wry, outstanding novel about the tests that time, age and life impose on love resonates with humanity and emotional intelligence." -- Financial Times
"[Midwinter Break] is, pretty much, a perfect piece of work. It is paced flawlessly, is lapidary of structure, and is delivered with a purpose and clarity and control that can shut out the noise of the world, of your own heartbeat, even: one of those precious books that, when at last you look up from its pages, you need a moment of re-adjustment, of decompression, so immersive is it.... It is breathtaking writing." -- Spectator
"Midwinter Break is a touching, hopeful portrait of love's complexity, written by a master craftsman, from the fullness of his heart." -- Irish Times
"MacLaverty doesn't publish novels very often, but when he does they are outstanding." -- Sunday Times
"An exceptionally good book, beautifully and intelligently written, well worth waiting for.... [MacLaverty] writes with an unfailing and generous sympathy.... Everything rings true." -- Scotsman
"A quietly powerful elegy that chides two finely wrought characters for not being capable of defining what they value most in life.... Exquisite." -- Publishers Weekly
"A closely observed, deeply sympathetic rendering of a relationship and the fissures that threaten to wreck it." -- Kirkus Reviews


Awards
Short-listed for International Dublin Literary Award 2019.



Book Information
ISBN 9780393356236
Author Bernard MacLaverty
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 218g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 140mm * 18mm