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May We Be Forgiven

Series: Best of Granta
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes explores the chaotic aftermath of a violent incident between two brothers, delving into themes of redemption and family dysfunction. The novel follows Harold's journey as he navigates unexpected responsibilities and tries to rebuild his life amid turmoil and guilt. It's a darkly comedic examination of modern American life and personal transformation.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2799
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you appreciate a darkly comic yet poignant exploration of suburban family dynamics gone awry. Fans of character-driven stories filled with unexpected twists and audacious humour will find this novel particularly engaging, as it tackles themes of personal redemption and the chaos of modern life.

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Included in the BEST OF GRANTA launch list for 2023: an iconic satire of contemporary America and WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013, in which a momentary loss of control catapults two vying brothers into new lives, wherein loyalties are tested and families crumble.

Included in the BEST OF GRANTA launch list for 2023: an iconic satire of contemporary America and WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013, in which a momentary loss of control catapults two vying brothers into new lives, wherein loyalties are tested and families crumble.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

Reads like a brilliant miniseries ... has the narrative intensity of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and the emotional punch of Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved. — Observer

Harold Silver has spent a lifetime watching his taller, smarter, and more successful younger brother George acquire a covetable wife, two kids, and a beautiful home in New York City. But Harry also knows his brother has a murderous temper. When George loses control, the result is an act of violence so shocking that both brothers are hurled into entirely new lives, in which they both must seek absolution.

Suddenly, Harry finds himself playing parent to his brother's two adolescent children, tumbling down a rabbit hole of online sex, and dealing with ageing parents who move through life like travellers on a fantastic voyage. He is forced to confront the ways in which our histories can either compel us to repeat our mistakes or become the catalyst for change.

May We Be Forgiven is a darkly funny tale exploring how one deeply fractured family might begin to put itself back together.

An unflinching account of a catastrophic, violent, black-comic, transformative year in the history of one broken American family. Flat-out amazing — Salman Rushdie

Series: Best of Granta

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  • May We Be Forgiven
    WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION Reads like a brilliant miniseries ... has the narrative intensity of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and the emotional punch of Siri Hustvedt's What I Loved. — Observer Harold Silver has spent a lifetime watching his taller, smarter, and more successful younger brother George acquire a covetable wife, two kids, and a beautiful home...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics have praised May We Be Forgiven for its blend of dark humour, narrative intensity, and complex characterisation. The novel offers a satirical and often brutally honest examination of American society, interweaving themes of violence, family, and the pursuit of the American dream. With comparisons to works like Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and noted for its wit and emotional depth, the book has been described as both hilarious and harrowing, leaving a lasting impact on readers.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781803510033

Publisher: Granta Publications Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 August 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Granta Publications Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 337g

Pages: 496

About the Author

A.M. Homes is the author of the novels May We Be Forgiven, which won the Women's Prize in 2013, This Book Will Save Your Life, a Richard and Judy pick in 2007, The Unfolding, Music for Torching, The End of Alice, In a Country of Mothers and Jack, three collections of short stories, Days of Awe, Things You Should Know and The Safety of Objects, and the acclaimed memoir The Mistress's Daughter, as well as the travel memoir Los Angeles. A Washington D.C. native, she currently teaches at Princeton University and lives in New York City.

Also by A.M. Homes

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  • May We Be Forgiven
    Harry Silver, a Richard Nixon scholar, leads a quiet, controlled life defined by routine and scholarly pursuits. His brother George, a high-powered television producer, contrasts this with a volatile, high-stakes existence marked by professional success and a dangerously mercurial temper. The two brothers have been locked in a contentious rivalry since childhood. This uneasy balance is shattered when George's explosive...
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  • The End Of Alice
    The End of Alice treads the wafer-thin line between the evil and the everyday, following the correspondence of two paedophiles. One, the narrator, is a child-killer serving his twenty-third year in prison. The other, his seemingly sweet admirer, is a nineteen-year-old woman intent on seducing a young neighbourhood boy. Teetering on the knife's edge between the American Dream and the...
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  • Days of Awe
    From the winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction-winning May We Be Forgiven. A.M. Homes returns with signature humour and psychological accuracy, to tell thirteen stories exposing the heart of an uneasy 21st-century America. In tales of a family obsessed with the surfaces of their lives, or the story of a shopper who suddenly finds himself nominated to run for...
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  • The Unfolding
    The Big Guy loves his family, money, and democracy. Undone by the results of the 2008 Presidential election, he taps a group of like-minded men to reclaim their version of America. As they build a scheme to disturb and disrupt, the Big Guy also faces turbulence within his family and must take responsibility for his past actions. For his wife...
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  • This Book Will Save Your Life
    Richard is a modern-day everyman, a middle-aged divorcee trading stocks out of his home in Los Angeles who needs no one. His life has slowed almost to a standstill until two incidents conspire to hurl him back into the world. One day he wakes up with a knotty cramp in his back, which rapidly develops into an all-consuming pain. At...
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