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Literary Fiction · Melancholic

A widowed art historian returns to the seaside town where he spent a childhood summer

The Sea

by John Banville

2005200 pagesModerate readSlow pace
★ Booker Prize, 2005

A widower goes back to the sea of his childhood

Max Morden is an art historian who has lost his wife, and he returns to a seaside village in Ireland where he spent a summer as a boy. He remembers the Grace family, his first love and the tragedy that ended that summer. It won the 2005 Booker Prize.

More about this book

Who

Max Morden and the Grace family.

World

An Irish seaside village.

What makes it different

The past and present run together in one voice.

Feel

Lyrical and sad.

See it on Amazon

Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition

Further reading

About the author

John Banville1 book on Tori Books