Shade

By: Neil Jordan

Narrated by: Terry Donnelly

In the opening chapter of Shade, a woman dies in the house where she grew up, killed by her childhood friend. The clumsy murderer manages to eliminate her body; however, her spirit returns to narrate this riveting novel of love and war, childhood alliances, and inevitable betrayals. Nina Hardy's ghost is vigilant, patient, and forgiving. As she haunts her home, and her childhood self, on the bank of the river Boyne, she chronicles the lives of two pairs of siblings with astonishing insight and perception.

Set in Ireland between the 1900s and 1950s, Shade follows friends through peace and war, with each unforgettable character inexorably moving towards their role in the brutal murder that begins the novel, a tragedy that comes to have shattering significance before the last page.

©2004 Neil Jordan (P)2004 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Elegantly sober narration from beyond the grave distinguishes this ghost story from novelist and Oscar-winning filmmaker Jordan....Daring and well-crafted." (Publishers Weekly)
"It's not surprising that Jordan...would have a lot to say about identity and sexuality, acting and observing, and politics. But as this quiet novel steps surely toward its powerful conclusion, it's also a testament to the simple but profound power of storytelling." (Booklist)

good plot needs better reader. .

plot is good. however the reader makes it difficult to discern who is talking (Nena, George, who?) Would be a better book with a different reader.