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“A beautifully observed, emotionally detailed novel about one family’s decline and regeneration.”—New York Times
A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick (U.K.)
Winner of 2005 Hawthornden Prize (U.K.) for Best Work of Imaginative Literature
Winner of the 2005 South African Sunday Times Fiction Award
The Promise of Happiness is an emotionally wrought and beautifully rendered novel about one family’s attempt at reconciliation. The five members of the Judd family, reeling from a series of personal and professional blows, have each retreated into a private world. But the impending return of prodigal daughter Juliet, an art historian incarcerated in an upstate New York prison for helping to sell stolen Tiffany windows, brings the family together for the first time since her incarceration. As Juliet—once the apple of her father’s eye—returns to England for her brother’s wedding, the family grapples with their conflicting feelings for one another and the moral dilemmas that threaten to tear them apart. ...
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A sweeping view of the influential city of Oxford, from one of our most talented, thoughtful writers. Oxford is a world-renowned stronghold of knowledge, a lush medieval city dotted with beautiful gardens. But it stands for something deep in our minds—excellence, a kind of privilege, a charmed life, deepveined liberalism, a respect for tradition. In his attempt to capture the spirit of this verdant place, Cartwright has spoken to many leading figures, looked at favorite places in Oxford, and even subjected himself to an English tutorial (he performed very poorly). At the same time he has looked at some of the great debates that made Oxford what it is, and patched together the complex history of the place. Cartwright depicts the beauty of this historic city and muses on his own experiences there. At the same time, though, this is more than an encomium to an influential place: It is Cartwright’s reckoning with both age and memory. No longer a young man, he examines the walls of this old city for the shadows of his former self and, in broad, powerful strokes, delivers a reflection on the meaning of history, both grand and small. Justin Cartwright’s novels include In Every Face I Meet, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; the acclaimed bestseller The Promise of Happiness; White Lightning, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award; and the 1999 Whitbread winner Leading the Cheers. H is most recent novel, The Song Before It Is Sung, was published by Bloomsbury in 2007 and won the prestigious London Jewish Council Award for Literature. He was born in South Africa and now lives in London. Oxford is a world-renowned stronghold of knowledge, a lush medieval city dotted with beautiful gardens. But it stands for something deep in our minds—excellence, a kind of privilege, a charmed life, deepveined liberalism, a respect for tradition. In his attempt to capture the spirit of this verdant place, Cartwright has spoken to many leading figures, looked at favorite places in Oxford, and even subjected himself to an English tutorial (he performed very poorly). At the same time he has looked at some of the great debates that made Oxford what it is, and patched together the complex history of the place.
Cartwright depicts the beauty of this historic city and muses on his own experiences there. At the same time, though, this is more than an encomium to an influential place: It is Cartwright’s reckoning with both age and memory. No longer a young man, he examines the walls of this old city for the shadows of his former self and, in broad, powerful strokes, delivers a reflection on the meaning of history, both grand and small. "Justin Cartwright is a member of a masterful generation of English novelists that includes Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro."—Los Angeles Times
"A poignant meditation on youth and age."—Guardian
"This elegiac and elegant essay shows why so many of the best and brightest still aspire to Oxford, and why Oxford still has so much to offer them."—Spectator ...
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With the subtlety of Ian McEwan and the pathos of Kazuo Ishiguro, a wise, compassionate novel about age, loss, and moving forward. As he moves toward old age, David Cross finds himself living an unexpected new life. Having lost his wife, Nancy, to illness, and retired from his job as a prominent television news anchor, David is working out in the gym and becoming very thin. His children, Ed and Lucy, embarking on careers and lives on their own, suspect him of being on the lookout for a new woman. He cannot tell them that he is, in some ways, happier than he was before Nancy died. As Ed and his dancer wife, Rosalie, struggle to conceive a child and Lucy seeks refuge from a chaotic ex-boyfriend, all of them are now forced to face their lives without the woman who was the center of the family. With their personal lives spinning out of control, they each must find a way to hold firm. And when David goes to see his estranged brother deep in the African desert, he will come to an unexpected, meaningful, and life-affirming epiphany. Filled with rich characterization, warm humor, and shocking surprises, To Heaven by Water is a masterwork of great subtlety, a moving novel from a keen observer of life as we live it now. ...
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