Synopsis
The third in his thematically-connected Revolutions Trilogy, The Newton Letter is an exceptional work of literature from John Banville, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea.
A historian, on the brink of completing a book on Isaac Newton, rents a cottage in southern Ireland for the summer. As the summer wears on and he dissects Newton’s mental collapse of 1693 he becomes distracted by the mysterious occupants of Fern House and finds himself constructing their imagined histories to powerful effect. His elaborate attempts to decipher the complex web of relationships are, however, far from accurate . . .
‘A nearly perfectly fashioned work of art . . . The Newton Letter gave this reader such pleasurable excitement that he found it impossible to concentrate on anything until he had read it again to make sure that it seemed as good on the second reading. It did’ – Irish Times
Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.
Details
18 February 2027
9781035083046Reviews
How is one to convey half-adequately that Banville’s The Newton Letter is something out of the ordinary?
Banville’s prose has a dazzling amplitude and resource . . . a novelist of international calibre.
Very precise and evocative . . . full of teasing alignments and variations.
A nearly perfectly fashioned work of art . . . The Newton Letter gave this reader such pleasurable excitement that he found it impossible to concentrate on anything until he had read it again to make sure that it seemed as good on the second reading. It did
