{"title":"Alice McDermott","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlice McDermott\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts deeply evocative stories rooted in everyday life, exploring themes of memory, loss, and the subtle moments that shape us. Her works, such as \u003cem\u003eAbsolution\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCharming Billy\u003c\/em\u003e, offer rich, character-driven narratives that linger long after the final page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect a profound and tender approach to general fiction, where ordinary experiences reveal extraordinary emotional depth. McDermott’s quiet prose gently uncovers the complexities of family, faith, and the passage of time.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"absolution-by-alice-mcdermott-9781526673619","title":"Absolution","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cem\u003e THE TOP 10 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'One of the finest contemporary novels I've read ... A moral masterpiece' \u003c\/b\u003eANN PATCHETT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Her writing has a luminous kind of clarity, a grace and scope that fills me with wonder'\u003c\/b\u003e RACHEL JOYCE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Damning and dazzling ... The story of a Vietnam we never got in history class' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eOPRAH DAILY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1963. Saigon. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney working for US Navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. The two women form a wary alliance as they struggle to balance the pressure to be respectable wives for their ambitious husbands, with their own dubious impulses to “do good” for the people of Vietnam.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam veteran, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, discovering how their lives as women on the periphery — of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands’ convictions — have been shaped and burdened by the unintended consequences of America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExploring the disaster of the Vietnam War through the lives built by American wives in 1960s Saigon, this is a virtuosic novel about folly and grace, obligation, sacrifice and the quest for absolution in a broken world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46710160621804,"sku":"9781526673619","price":24.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/b348edc96049c032d03ae6ab34cc6a79.jpg?v=1754132706"},{"product_id":"charming-billy-by-alice-mcdermott-9780747545392","title":"Charming Billy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe late Billy Lynch's family and friends gather at a small bar and grill in the Bronx to remember better times. His widow, Maeve, is there, and everyone admires the way she is holding up, just as they always admired the way she cared for Billy after the alcohol had ruined him. But one cannot think of Billy without saying at some point, 'There was that girl'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn Long Island one summer years ago, Billy fell in love with a beautiful Irish girl working for a wealthy Park Avenue family. Billy wanted to marry Eva, but then she went back to Ireland. And then Billy's cousin Dennis had to break the terrible news: Eva had died of pneumonia. Billy never got over it. Anybody who knew him would tell you so. Billy began courting Maeve not long after, but for the rest of their lives, he, she, and Dennis shared a hidden, twisted grief.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCharming Billy\u003c\/em\u003e explores themes of love, loss, and the enduring impact of secrets, as the characters reflect on Billy's life and the choices that shaped their destinies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711123968236,"sku":"9780747545392","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/bc9d30865854a88acf4eedd17f9e1c1c.jpg?v=1754213101"},{"product_id":"absolution-by-alice-mcdermott-9781526673602","title":"Absolution","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e THE TOP 10 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'One of the finest contemporary novels I've read ... A moral masterpiece'\u003c\/strong\u003e ANN PATCHETT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Her writing has a luminous kind of clarity, a grace and scope that fills me with wonder'\u003c\/strong\u003e RACHEL JOYCE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Damning and dazzling ... The story of a Vietnam we never got in history class'\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ci\u003eOPRAH DAILY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e-----------------\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1963. Saigon. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney working for US Navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. The two women form a wary alliance as they struggle to balance the pressure to be respectable wives for their ambitious husbands, with their own dubious impulses to “do good” for the people of Vietnam.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an ageing Vietnam veteran, reaches out to Tricia. 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