Media Center: ‘Mrs Osmond’ by John Banville

Media Center: ‘Mrs Osmond’ by John Banville

WHO: John Banville

WHAT: MRS. OSMOND, a novel

WHEN: Published by Knopf November 7, 2017

WHERE: The author lives in Dublin

WHY: “A delightful tour de force.
“Banville’s rich and measured prose style is quintessentially Jamesian: the long interior monologues perfectly capture the hum of human consciousness, and the characters are alive with psychological nuance. Readers join James’s heroine where his classic left her; Banville’s Isabel Archer Osmond is now a sedate, proper matron, who bitterly rues her marriage to deceitful Gilbert Osmond. She retains her high-minded principles, however, and has determined to live with her guilt at having ignored the advice she had received against marrying him.
“Gilbert is a cruel, arrogant man who condescends to Isabel in cutting language, lives off her fortune, and demands her complete loyalty. Having defied Gilbert when he forbade her to leave their home in Rome to hurry to her dying cousin’s bedside in England, Isabel feels the first stirrings of freedom. Almost capriciously, she withdraws a large amount of money from the bank in the hopes of having it free to spend as she sees fit without the interference of her husband and his malign mistress, Madame Merle. After Isabel’s redoubtable lady’s maid, Staines, discloses some astonishing news, the narrative takes a suspenseful turn.
“Some of the other characters from The Portrait of a Lady — including Isabel’s aunt, Mrs. Touchett; Pansy Osmond, Gilbert’s daughter; and American journalist Henrietta Stackpole — appear again. It is clear the freedom and social clout that money bestows in the 19th-century settings of London, Paris, Florence, and Rome, all described in lush detail.
“As in James’s novel, Banville incorporates a wonderful sense of irony; the result is a novel that succeeds both as an unofficial sequel and as a bold, thoroughly satisfying standalone.” –PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, in a starred and boxed review

“Who better to audaciously continue the story of Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady than Man Booker winner John Banville?”
–Donna Seaman, in a starred review for BOOKLIST

“A sequel that honors Henry James and his singular heroine while showing Banville to be both an uncanny mimic and, as always, a captivating writer.”
–KIRKUS, in a starred review

Jacket photo

Media Resources:
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Knopf. 369 pages. $27.95 ISBN 978-0-451-49342-2

To interview the author, contact:
Gabrielle Brooks | 212-572-2152 | gbrooks@penguinrandomhouse.com