The Given Day

by Dennis Lehane
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The NYT bestselling crime writer brings us a masterful American literary epic.

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Synopsis

Danny Coughlin is Boston Police Department royalty and the son of one of the city's most beloved and powerful police captains. His beat is the predominately Italian neighbourhoods of the North End where political dissent is in the air - fresh and intoxicating. On the hunt for hard-line radicals as a favour to his father, Danny is drawn into the ideological fray and finds his loyalties compromised as the police department itself becomes swept up in potentially violent labour strife.Luther Lawrence is on the run. A suspect in a nightclub shooting in Oklahoma, he flees to Boston, leaving his wife behind. He lands a job in the Coughlin household and meets Danny and the family's Irish maid, Nora, who once had a powerful bond. As the mystery of their relationship unravels, Luther finds himself befriending them both even as the turmoil in his own life threatens to overwhelm him. Desperate to return to his wife and child, he must confront the past that has followed him and settle scores with enemies old and new. Set at the end of the Great War, The Given Day is meticulously researched and expertly plotted, it will transport you to an unforgettable time and place.

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Nov 3

Dublin IMPAC Award Longlist Announced

by Random House Australia on 3 November 2009

Dublin IMPAC Award Longlist Announced 0 comments

Check out all the longlisted books including WANTING by Richard Flanagan

Editorial Reviews

"The Given Day stands in the great tradition of the American novel, setting an enthralling personal story against a great sweep of history. The result is epic, romantic and intelligent. I loved it." - KATE ATKINSON

"This is a sprawling, enthralling novel... every sentence is a treat, every image vivid....an extraordinary freshness and vitality." - Sunday Telegraph

"This is a book with Big Ambition written all over it: a thick, doorstopping, compulsively readable epic." - The Times

"Wrenchingly suspenseful...A majestic, fiery epic [with] a rich, intricate story." - New York Times

"The acclaimed author of Mystic River has produced a contender for the Big American Novel... not only a powerful, beautifully written novel, but the best kind of history lesson." - The Daily Mail

"A grand historical epic that rather conspicuously sets its cap at the status of Great American Novel." - The Independent

"[A] brilliant historical epic. Lehane earned his reputation for writing crime thrillers...And the same hard-boiled skills - and sheer love of storytelling remain in place now he's turned to something more ambitious." - The Daily Telegraph

"A brawling, brawny, muscular epic - exactly what great mainstream novels used to be." - LEE CHILD

"Although Lehane is keen to offer a complete historical portrait of Boston after the First World War, he does not stint on characters and plot either. It is an accomplished balancing act." - The Daily Express

"Dennis Lehane takes on the volatile beginnings of the American century and, like the master storyteller he is, effortlessly makes that vast canvas come alive. A rich and satisfying epic." - STEWART O'NAN, author of THE NIGHT COUNTRY

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