A Novel
Quirkethe hard-drinking, insatiably curious Dublin pathologistis back, and he's determined to find his daughter's best friend, a well-connected young doctor
April Latimer has vanished. A junior doctor at a local hospital, she is something of a scandal in the conservative and highly patriarchal society of 1950s Dublin. Though her family is one of the most respected in the city, she is known for being independent-minded; her taste in men, for instance, is decidedly unconventional.
Now April has disappeared, and her friend Phoebe Griffin suspects the worst. Frantic, Phoebe seeks out Quirke, her brilliant but erratic father, and asks him for help. Sober again after intensive treatment for alcoholism, Quirke enlists his old sparring partner, Detective Inspector Hackett, in the search for the missing young woman. In their separate ways the two men follow April's trail through some of the darker byways of the city to uncover crucial information on her whereabouts. And as Quirke becomes deeply involved in April's murky story, he encounters complicated and ugly truths about family savagery, Catholic ruthlessness, and race hatred.
tless love between a father and his daughter, this is Benjamin Black at his sparkling best.
"Starred Review. [An] engrossing third crime thriller..." - Publishers Weekly
"Black's latest reads more like a fascinating father-daughter character study than a whodunit.." - Library Journal
"What sets it apart is the uncanny ability of Black to bring his characters alive with flashes of piercing insight... " - Kirkus Reviews
This information about Elegy for April was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Benjamin Black is the pen name of acclaimed author John Banville, who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His novels have won numerous awards, including the Man Booker Prize in 2005 for The Sea. He lives in Dublin.
Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering.
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