A New York Review Books Classic.
This powerful short novel describes the events of a single afternoon. Alwyn Towers, an American expatriate and sometime novelist, is staying with a friend outside of Paris, when a well-heeled, itinerant Irish couple drops in - with Lucy, their trained hawk, a restless, sullen disturbingly totemic presence. Lunch is prepared, drink flows. A masquerade, at once harrowing and farcical, begins.
A work of classical elegance and concision, this book stands with Faulkner's 'The Bear' as one of the finest American short novels: a beautifully crafted story that is also a poignant evocation of the implacable power of love.
