Bernard MacLaverty
Author of Cal
About the Author
Bernard MacLaverty lives in Glasgow.
Works by Bernard MacLaverty
Associated Works
In Another Part of the Forest: An Anthology of Gay Short Fiction (1994) — Contributor — 192 copies, 2 reviews
New Dubliners: Original Stories Celebrating 100 Years of Joyce's Dubliners (2005) — Contributor — 27 copies, 2 reviews
A Very Irish Christmas: The Greatest Irish Holiday Stories of All Time (2021) — Contributor — 20 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Mac Laverty, Bernard
- Birthdate
- 1942-09-14
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- medical lab technician
English teacher
writer-in-residence
creative writing teacher - Organizations
- Aosdána
University of Aberdeen (writer in residence)
University of Strathclyde (Visiting Writer/Professor) - Awards and honors
- The Lord Provost of Glasgow's Award for Literature (2005)
Creative Scotland Award (2002) - Short biography
- Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast (14.9.42) and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children. He has been a Medical Laboratory Technician, a mature student, a teacher of English and occasionally a Writer-in-Residence (Universities of Aberdeen, Augsburg, Liverpool John Moore's and Iowa State). After living for a time in Edinburgh and the Isle of Islay he now lives in Glasgow. He is a member of Aosdana in Ireland.
He has published five novels and six collections of short stories. Since bringing out Collected Stories in 2013 he has published BLANK PAGES and Other Stories. (2021).
He has written versions of his fiction for other media - radio plays, television plays, screenplays, libretti. - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
- Places of residence
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK - Map Location
- Northern Ireland, UK
Members
Reviews
MacLaverty doesn't write novels very often - this is only the second since the Booker shortlisted [b:Grace Notes|319556|Grace Notes|Bernard MacLaverty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348839024s/319556.jpg|2071945] in 1997 (the only other one I have read). Once again this is a beautifully poised story of a crisis in a long lasting marriage.
Like its author, its protagonists moved from Ulster to Scotland to escape the Troubles. They are spending a short winter holiday in Amsterdam. Both show more have secrets - the atheist architect Gerry tries and largely fails to conceal the extent of his drinking, and Stella is considering leaving him to find a purer life in a Catholic religious community and has planned the trip to allow herself to investigate it.
The causes of this crisis are revealed slowly, and have their roots in events that occurred in Belfast in the 70s. Coming so soon after reading two books by [a:Anna Burns|396165|Anna Burns|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], MacLaverty's very different approach to talking about the Troubles was an intriguing contrast. The central relationship is beautifully nuanced and touching. show less
Like its author, its protagonists moved from Ulster to Scotland to escape the Troubles. They are spending a short winter holiday in Amsterdam. Both show more have secrets - the atheist architect Gerry tries and largely fails to conceal the extent of his drinking, and Stella is considering leaving him to find a purer life in a Catholic religious community and has planned the trip to allow herself to investigate it.
The causes of this crisis are revealed slowly, and have their roots in events that occurred in Belfast in the 70s. Coming so soon after reading two books by [a:Anna Burns|396165|Anna Burns|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], MacLaverty's very different approach to talking about the Troubles was an intriguing contrast. The central relationship is beautifully nuanced and touching. show less
This is a quiet but powerful little book. It examines the long marriage of an Irish couple, Gerry and Stella, who live in Scotland, through the device of an extended weekend holiday to Amsterdam. As with many marriages, theirs has fallen into dull routines: Stella becomes increasingly involved with the Catholic church while Gerry lives under the delusion that his wife has no idea how much he drinks. Gerry thinks they are just on a short midwinter break, but Stella uses the possibility to show more consider leaving the marriage to fulfill a promise she made to God years ago in the aftermath of a tragic event. MacLaverty takes us into the mind of each character, reflecting on the past, present, and possible future. The book is a realistic exploration of a marriage, told in beautiful, vivid language. Bernard MacLaverty has yet to disappoint me. show less
Cathy is hosting #ReadingIrelandMonth at 746 Books, so I hunted through the TBR and found Grace Notes, by Bernard MacLaverty (which had been lurking there since 2010). MacLaverty was born in Belfast, but moved to Glasgow in 1975, and although Wikipedia summarises Grace Notes as a conflict between a desire for creativity and motherhood, I think it’s about more than that. I think it’s also about a desire to escape an intractable conflict which soured every aspect of life in Northern show more Ireland.
The novel begins with Catherine’s return to Belfast for her father’s funeral after an estrangement of some years. The novel predates the Good Friday Agreement (1998) and though on the bus home she watched the familiar landmarks she used as a child pass one by one, things are not the same in the town.
Catherine has been living in Glasgow since winning a scholarship and deciding not to come home after graduating. She has been living in safety while her family’s neighbourhood was bombed all around them, and she didn’t even know about it. A vast gulf now separates her from her mother, who, not knowing anything about Catherine’s new life, achievements and responsibilities, is still entertaining hopes that her only child will stay home now. But paradoxically, since it could be bombed at any time, ‘home’ is stasis, predictable, judgemental, rigid and under siege. She grieves for her father despite his flaws; she wishes she could get on better with her mother but she no longer shares her faith nor her values.
In a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere, Part One of the novel traces the brief couple of days of mourning and the funeral, with Catherine trying hard not to react to irritations from her nagging mother, and trying also to work out when and how to tell her mother a piece of news she isn’t going to want to hear.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/03/20/grace-notes-by-bernard-maclaverty/ show less
The novel begins with Catherine’s return to Belfast for her father’s funeral after an estrangement of some years. The novel predates the Good Friday Agreement (1998) and though on the bus home she watched the familiar landmarks she used as a child pass one by one, things are not the same in the town.
In the town itself she was surprised to see a Chinese restaurant and a new grey fortress of a police barracks. She stood, ready to get off at her stop. There was something odd about the street. She bent at the knees, crouched to look out at where she used to live. It was hardly recognisable. Shop-fronts were covered in hardboard, the Orange Hall and other buildings bristled with scaffolding. Some roofs were covered in green tarpaulins, others were protected by lath and sheets of polythene.
‘What happened here?’ she asked the bus driver.
‘It got blew up. A bomb in October.’
‘Was anybody hurt?’
‘They gave a warning. The whole place is nothing but a shell.’
She stepped down onto the pavement and felt her knees shake. A place of devastation. (pp.9-10)
Catherine has been living in Glasgow since winning a scholarship and deciding not to come home after graduating. She has been living in safety while her family’s neighbourhood was bombed all around them, and she didn’t even know about it. A vast gulf now separates her from her mother, who, not knowing anything about Catherine’s new life, achievements and responsibilities, is still entertaining hopes that her only child will stay home now. But paradoxically, since it could be bombed at any time, ‘home’ is stasis, predictable, judgemental, rigid and under siege. She grieves for her father despite his flaws; she wishes she could get on better with her mother but she no longer shares her faith nor her values.
In a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere, Part One of the novel traces the brief couple of days of mourning and the funeral, with Catherine trying hard not to react to irritations from her nagging mother, and trying also to work out when and how to tell her mother a piece of news she isn’t going to want to hear.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/03/20/grace-notes-by-bernard-maclaverty/ show less
This quietly powerful novel, which was selected for this year's Wellcome Book Prize longlist, is set in present day Amsterdam and is centered on a retired Northern Irish couple who has moved to Glasgow and is on a long holiday weekend in the Dutch capital. Gerry was a modestly successful architect, who loves the bottle at least as much as his wife Stella, a former teacher and devoutly religious woman, who struggles against her husband's alcoholism and with a secret that has inspired and show more possessed her for over 40 years. She is no longer happy living with Gerry, and seeks to use her remaining years to serve God and to repay Him for the dire fate that He spared her from. The author's portrayal of the two characters, and the wonderful city of Amsterdam, is evocative and touching, and I found myself sympathizing with Stella's plight, becoming angry with Gerry's insensitivity and boorishness, yet rooting for the two of them to remain together despite their shortcomings. Midwinter Break is a superb examination of the destructive effects that alcoholism can have on an individual and an otherwise happy marriage, and it certainly deserves a place on this year's so far excellent longlist. show less
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- Works
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- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 66
- ISBNs
- 174
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