Book division successes 1990 - 1992

1992

Brightness Falls by Jay McInerney

A novel about men and women confronting their sudden middle age with wit and low behaviour, or fear and confusion, or honesty and decency. None of them will ever be the same again.

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

Set at the end of World War II, this novel explores the lives of four very disparate people who find themselves holed up together in a ruined villa north of Florence as the war retreats around them. The author was awarded the 1992 Booker Prize for this book.

The Men and the Girls by Joanna Trollope

Lifelong friends, now in their 60s, James and Hugh consider themselves to be very lucky to be living with attractive women 25 years their junior. All seems well until the appearance of Miss Beatrice Bachelor, a razor sharp Oxford spinster, who fuels the discontent of both women with their lives.

1990

Lies of Silence by Brian Moore

When the IRA orders Dillon to park his car at a Belfast hotel, he knows he's planting a bomb that will kill and maim dozens. He also knows his wife will be killed if he disobeys. The author's award-winning novels include The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne and The Great Victorian Collection.

The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow

The sequel to Presumed Innocent, in which the same main character appears. Alejandro 'Sandy' Stern, the most celebrated defence lawyer in the mid-western city where he lives, comes home from a business trip to find that Clara, his wife of 30 years, has committed suicide.

The Feather Men by Ranulph Fiennes

An adventure story which is made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is actually true. An Arab prince wishes to avenge the deaths of his four sons, by killing four former SAS men. The intended fourth victim turns out to be the author himself.

The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope

For 20 years Anna Bouverie, as a vicar's wife, has served God in a diversity of ways. When her husband fails to gain promotion and retreats into isolated bitterness, she rebels and takes a job in the local supermarket. Soon she finds herself admired by three very different men.