Showing results by author "John Burnside" in All Categories

Michael Gardiner has lived in Coldhaven all his life, yet he still feels like an outsider. When Moira Birnie, convinced that her abusive husband is the devil, kills herself and her two young sons but spares her 14-year-old daughter, Hazel, Michael uneasily recalls his past connections to Moira. As teenagers, Michael and Moira had a brief romance; more troubling, Michael was responsible for the death of Moira's brother, the town bully. In the wake of the tragedy, Michael becomes obsessed with Hazel....

Leonard, The Glister's 15-year-old narrator, lives in the decaying coastal community of Innertown. Every year or so, a boy from Leonard's school disappears, vanishing into the wasteland of the old chemical plant. Nobody knows where these boys go or whether they are alive or dead, and without evidence to the contrary, the authorities claim they are simply runaways.

Die ganze Verletzlichkeit des Lebens in nur einem Moment. Was macht eine gute Beziehung aus? Was ist Liebe - und was nicht? John Burnsides Geschichten tauchen in das Leben von Männern und Frauen ein, die - in einer Ehe gefangen, gebeutelt von falschen Erwartungen, dem Alkohol verfallen - alles andere als ideale Paare verkörpern. Untreu, einsam, krank, begegnet man seinen Heldinnen und Helden bevorzugt nachts auf leeren Straßen. Von so etwas wie Glück können sie nur träumen, ihre Gefühle bleiben meist sprachlos. Und doch könnten sie unsere Nachbarn sein.