Publisher's Synopsis
Theo Shortcourse has always been overshadowed by his charismatic nephew, Bain Cross, who is three years older than him and the favorite of Theo's beautiful, manipulative mother, Sparrow. Now the corrupt Bain is the most powerful figure in the Irish Government, and Theo is sought for murder. As he hides from his pursuers in the river delta, he reflects on his life and his childhood in the small town of Monument. There his fate became entwined with Bain, Pax Sheehy - to Theo the moral guardian of his time - and the dark secrets that govern all the characters in his damaged life, from generation to generation.
Wrought in exquisite, ravishing detail, Tapes of the River Delta's themes of blood and tribe, politics, church and law, desire, betrayal, violence and guilt reflect the "blasted hopes of twentieth century Ireland."
Tapes of the River Delta is part of Peter Cunningham's acclaimed Monument series. Set in the fictional landscape of the author's native city of Waterford, these stories describe Irish people and their lives and loves from the late nineteenth century to the present day. The novels have been widely praised in Ireland, the UK and US, and in translation.
"A gifted and original novel," said Booker Prize winner, Barry Unsworth of Tapes of the River Delta. "Cunningham is a writer of great gifts." "An astounding debut, a breathtakingly brave dive," wrote Madeleine Keane in the Sunday Independent. Publishers Weekly called the novel "A marvelously lyrical, powerfully erotic novel."
