Three Early Novels: The Old Boys;the Boarding House;the Love Department

William Trevor'sLast Storiesis forthcoming from Viking.

Three novels by a master craftsman and a deep creative talent. -The Times (London)

In his first novel, The Old Boys, a group of septuagenarians revive schoolboy conflicts in the election of the President of the Association. Now, however, the men possess a fiercer understanding of the things in life that matter-power, revenge, hatred, love, and the failure of love-and intrigue and deceit result.

In The Boarding House, William Wagner Bird takes in boarders whom society would never miss-if it ever noticed they were around. With these misfits, Bird creates a world where people are identified by their quirks rather than by their character. Then he makes a fatal mistake- He dies.

From the offices of The Love Department, Lady Dolores cures the heartaches of the lonely wives of Wimbledon with inimitable flourish and finesse. When the newest protege, Edward Blakeston-Smith, is sent on a mission-to learn the secrets of seductive, scheming Septimus Tuam and stop him in his tracks-he learns about love and its friends and enemies.

In these early novels, one of the acclaimed masters of twentieth-century fiction created the dark landscape and compassionate characters that have become hallmarks of his extraordinary career.

One of the very best writers of our era. -The Washington Post Book World

Mr. Trevor’s sheer intensity of entry into the lives of his people … proceeds to uncover new layers of yearning and pain, new angles of vision and credible thought. -The New York Times Book Review