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    Very Old Bones
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    Very Old Bones
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    Very Old Bones
    Ebook335 pages5 hours

    Very Old Bones

    By William Kennedy

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    About this ebook

    It is 1958 and the Phelan clan has gathered to hear Peter Phelan's will, read by the living Peter himself, an artist whose paintings about members of the family have given him belated critical recognition. The paintings illuminate the lives of his brother Francis (the exiled hero of Ironweed), and a family ancestor, Malachi McIlhenny, a true madman beset by demons, and determined to send them back to hell.

    Orson Purcell, bastard son of Peter, and half-mad himself, encounters his first true solace through this obsessive and close-knit family he has never quite entered; most especially through his Aunt Molly, whose intense love affair holds secrets that only another love can resurrect. It is through Orson's modern eye that we see the tragedies, obsessions, and clandestine joys of this singular family.

    This is climatic work in William Kennedy's Albany Cycle, riding on the melody of its language and the power of its story, which is full of surprise, comedy, terror, and earthly delight.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster UK
    Release dateDec 22, 2011
    ISBN9781849838535
    Unavailable
    Very Old Bones
    Author

    William Kennedy

    William Kennedy (b. 1928) is an American author and journalist. Born and raised in Albany, New York, he graduated from Siena College and served in the US Army. After living in Puerto Rico, Kennedy returned to Albany and worked at the Times Union as an investigative journalist. He would go on to author Ironweed, Very Old Bones, and other novels in his celebrated Albany Cycle, and earn honors including a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and a New York State Governor’s Arts Award.  

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    • 4/5
      An exorcism of Phelan family demons by means of an artistic rendering of a family exorcism. Kennedy brings us through the generations of Phelans - a family filled with its share of difficult times and dysfunctional relationships. In the end there is a path to move forward, though certainly not totally secured. The Albany series as a whole is very well done, with interesting characters that the reader cares about. Sadly, all good things must come to an end.