Mary Gordon se proslavila svými romány, pamětmi a literární kritikou. Její práce se vyznačuje hlubokým zkoumáním lidské psychiky a složitých etických otázek. Gordon je oceňována pro svůj pronikavý vhled do mezilidských vztahů a pro svou schopnost zachytit jemné nuance lidské zkušenosti. Její psaní je ceněno pro svou inteligenci a emocionální rezonanci, což čtenářům nabízí poutavý a podnětný zážitek.
Late 18th century Ireland. Two women from noble families - Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby - form an intense romantic friendship. They become famous as the Ladies of Llangollen. Chase is the forgotten queer novel of the inter-war period - an amiable companion to Woolf's time-travelling Orlando and antidote to the misery of The Well of Loneliness.
From the best-selling novelist and a deeply personal view of her discovery of the celebrated modern monk and thinker through his writings.“If Thomas Merton had been a writer and not a monk, we would never have heard of him. If Thomas Merton had been a monk and not a writer, we would never have heard of him.”So begins acclaimed author Mary Gordon in this probing, candid exploration of the man who became the face and voice of mid-twentieth-century American Catholicism. Approaching Merton “writer to writer,” Gordon illuminates his life and work through his letters, journals, autobiography, and fiction. Pope Francis has celebrated Merton as “a man of dialogue,” and here Gordon shows that the dialogue was as much internal as external—an unending conversation, and at times a heated conflict, between Merton the monk and Merton the writer.Rich with excerpts from Merton’s own writing, On Thomas Merton produces an intimate portrait of a man who “lived life in all its imperfectability, reaching toward it in exaltation, pulling back in anguish, but insisting on the primacy of his praise as a man of God.”
"Unbeknownst to her many fans, Quin Archer, the revenge-loving queen of the reality-TV show "Payback," was once an angry teen named Heidi--and her true story may be known only to Agnes, who was her art teacher at a private New England girls' school in the 1970s. Then a young woman herself, Agnes saw a spark of originality in the brooding Heidi. But when she suggests Heidi visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the girl returns with a disastrous account of having been picked up at the museum by an older man. Agnes's stunned, victim-blaming response will haunt both women for decades. Gordon narrates this tale of #metoo misunderstanding, from a time before there was language to contain it, with a sharp sense of life's changing tempo, carrying us through Heidi's disappearance and reinvention as Quin, and Agnes's escape into career and family in Italy--until, inevitably, they meet again. A remarkable book about the precise weight of our words and deeds, from a writer whose moral vision is deeply rewarding in its subtlety"--
When Judith Hearne moves into her new lodgings, she meets James Madden, recently returned from New York, where he was "in the hotel business right on Times Square". Is she too late for love - or dare she let herself hope? Soon reality and fantasy become hopelessly mixed.
The book presents a fresh and insightful portrayal of a legendary saint, highlighting the complexities and nuances of their life and legacy. Through a masterful storytelling approach, the author delves into the saint's experiences, beliefs, and impact, providing readers with a deeper understanding of their significance. This revealing account invites exploration of the saint's character and the historical context surrounding their life.
Mary Gordon gelingt es meisterhaft, die heldenhafte Geschichte der Jungfrau von Orléans auch nach über 500 Jahren in ihrer Widersprüchlichkeit spannend darzustellen. Jeanne d'Arc, Tochter eines reichen Bauern aus Lothringen, hört mit 13 Jahren plötzlich > Stimmen<, die ihr befehlen, den französischen König aufzusuchen und die Engländer aus Frankreich zu vertreiben. Es gelingt ihr tatsächlich, eine Audienz bei Karl VII. zu bekommen. Kurz darauf befreit sie mit der französischen Armee Orléans, das damals von den Engländern belagert wurde. Jeanne d'Arc wird jedoch gefangengenommen, der Ketzerei angeklagt, und schließlich bei lebendigem Leibe verbrannt. Mary Gordon betont in dieser Biographie den Aspekt Jeanne d'Arcs als weltweit positiver Identifikationsfigur. In der Auseinandersetzung mit dem jungen Mädchen, das für seinen Glauben und seine Überzeugung alles aufs Spiel setzt, zeichnet die Autorin ein ungewöhnlich differenziertes Bild.
A collection of dazzling and thought-provoking essays from lauded author Mary Gordon Much acclaimed for her novels, Mary Gordon is also a brilliant and wide-ranging essayist. Gathering together twenty-eight of her forays into nonfiction, "Good Boys and Dead Girls" provides a richly autobiographical context for the themes that mark her fiction, such as Irish-American life, Catholicism, embattled families, and the redeeming power of art. Many of the pieces offer insights into artists and other writers: There are admiring accounts of Edith Wharton, Stevie Smith, and Ford Madox Ford, and a piquant critique of the depiction of women by certain celebrated male novelists. Whatever the topic at hand, Gordon proves lively and illuminating company.
