Book description
From a rising young novelist comes an artful meditation on love and
life in contemporary London.
When David Pinner introduces his former teacher, the American artist
Ruth Marks, to his friend and flatmate James Glover, he unwittingly sets
in place a love triangle loaded with tension, guilt and heartbreak. As
David plays reluctant witness (and more) to James and Ruth's escalating
love affair, he must come to terms with his own blighted emotional life.
Set in the London art scene awash with new money and intellectual
pretension, in the sleek galleries and posh restaurants of a Britannia
resurgent with cultural and economic power, Nick Laird's insightful and
drolly satirical novel vividly portrays three people whose world
gradually fractures along the fault lines of desire, truth and jealousy.
With wit and compassion, Laird explores the very nature of contemporary
romance, among damaged souls whose hearts and heads never quite line up
long enough for them to achieve true happiness. 'Glover's Mistake is a
fine, thoughtful piece of work that combines a compelling plot and pithy
insights into the relationship between creativity and criticism; between
art and those who make their livings skulking in its shadow.' John
O'Connell, The Times
'It is a book that takes its characters pretty seriously, feeling their
pain and acknowledging the complexity and muddle of their lives…the
strength of this book comes from the sheer quality of the writing.' Guardian
'Glover's Mistake is a curiously old fashioned book, although not in a
bad way. It's an entertaining comedy of manners reminiscent of everyone
from David Lodge to Kingsley Amis.' The Gloss magazine
'Laird's insightful observations on modern romance and the London art
scene make this novel an entertaining read.' Hot Press
'Glover's Mistake is well set up for an Andrew Davies' 'Line of Beauty'
style BBC adaptation… A triumph from the Tyrone born poet and novelist.'
RTE Guide Nick Laird was born in Northern Ireland in 1975, and studied
at Cambridge and Harvard. He is the author of two collections of poetry
and the acclaimed novel Utterly Monkey. He currently teaches creative
writing at Columbia University in New York.
