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Barry Unsworth, 1930-2012

Cover art for THE QUALITY OF MERCY
FICTION
Released: Jan. 10, 2012
THE QUALITY OF MERCY
by Barry Unsworth
"A sturdy historical novel with fewer pages than Sacred Hunger but no less nuance."
Unsworth returns to themes of greed and human rights in this potent sequel to his 1992 Booker Prize–winning novel Sacred Hunger. Read full book review >
Cover art for LAND OF MARVELS
FICTION
Released: Jan. 6, 2009
Kirkus Star LAND OF MARVELS
by Barry Unsworth
"A transfixing melodrama alive with crackling suspense, sharply drawn characters, intense historical relevance and ideas in action. Absorbing and irresistible."
The Booker Prize–winning British author's latest novel is a tale of archaeological exploration and global political cross-purposes, set in the former Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in the immediate pre-war year of 1914. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE RUBY IN HER NAVEL
FICTION
Released: Oct. 17, 2006
THE RUBY IN HER NAVEL
by Barry Unsworth
"Unsworth's luscious history is ripe territory for a dialogue on the ever-present struggle against intolerance, a seemingly inevitable human frailty."
A richly imagined novel of the Middle Ages, filled with questions of race, God and fidelity, from the Booker Prize–winning Unsworth (The Song of the Kings, 2003, etc.). Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SONG OF THE KINGS
FICTION
Released: March 18, 2003
Kirkus Star THE SONG OF THE KINGS
by Barry Unsworth
"Nevertheless, a distinguished companion to such glorious excursions into the past as Sacred Hunger (1992) and Losing Nelson (1999)."
The world of Homeric epic and Euripidean tragedy is brought sharply to life in British master Unsworth's gorgeously detailed, astute 14th novel. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE PARTNERSHIP
FICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2001
THE PARTNERSHIP
by Barry Unsworth
"Rich with lush language, but perilously lacking plot or tension."
A first US appearance for this 1966 debut novel by Booker Prize–winning Unsworth (Sacred Hunger, 1992), notable primarily for what it promises. Read full book review >
Cover art for LOSING NELSON
FICTION
Released: Oct. 19, 1999
LOSING NELSON
by Barry Unsworth
"Psychodrama and historical suspense align to extraordinary effect here, entwining the two in a denouement both stunning and unspeakably sad. (Book-of-the-Month Club)"
In a novel of singular complexity, Unsworth (Sugar and Rum, p. 481, etc.) sheds remarkable light on the nature of obsession, as a daft but supremely knowledgeable biographer of British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson fights desperately against the evidence to rescue his subject from a distinctly unheroic deed. Read full book review >