"Recently reprinted by New York Review Books, G.B. Edwards' novel tells the story of a Guernsey man who lived through the Nazi occupation of Britain's Channel Islands into garrulous old age. His reminiscence is couched in a musical Guernsey English that follows circular paths through past and present to delve into island secrets and sagas. Great stuff." --Seattle Times
"There is a rare wholeness about The Book of Ebenezer Le Page. You get the entire man, in a way that isn't usually within the gift of literature to procure... I have read few books of such wide and delightful appeal.... [it] is vast fun and vast life, a Kulturgeschichte..." -Michael Hofmann, London Review of Books
"...a near-forgotten classic of post-colonial fiction...yet it comes, not from some far tropical shore, but from an old man writing in the 1970s about his native Guernsey .... All honour to the New York Review imprint for restoring him to his obstreperous glory." -The Independent (UK)
A masterpiece
one of the best novels of our time
I know of no description of happiness in modern literature equal to the one that ends this novel. The New York Times (Guy Davenport)
Quaint. Fascinating. Unique. Queer
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page is a eulogy for a way of life. The Los Angeles Times (Valerie Miner)
It reads like Beethovens Ninth
Coated with sea salt, its crannies spilling wildflowers, Edwardss book still roars like some huge shell held, cutting, against your ear. The Atlantic
An extraordinary book!
Splendid! To read it is not like reading but living. William Golding
Imagine a weekend spent in deep conversation with a superb old man, a crusty, intelligent, passionate and individualistic character at the peak of his powers as a raconteur, and you will have a very good idea of the impact of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page
It amuses, it entertains, it moves us
Ebenezers voice presides over all and its creation is a tremendous achievement. The Washington Post (Doug Lang)
[A] rare find
it is uniquea first novel that resists all categoriesand it overflows with the sense of life
Its chief virtues are a story rich in human connection and a marvelously seductive language
For those who cherish style, it is also good to hear a fresh novelists voice telling the old story of the passions, generosities, and greeds that battle in us all. Chicago Tribune (Lynne Sharon Schwartz)
G.B. Edwards, who died an unknown in 1976, constructed his novel out of the patterns of daily lifecountless teas, lovers quarrels, accounts of friendships and the signs of change as Guernsey reluctantly assumes the characteristics of progress. The results are enchanting. The Washington Post (New In Paperbacks)
A remarkable achievement!
The books voice and its methods are so unusual that it belongs nowhere on our conventional literary maps. John Fowles
[A] knowing and beguiling chronicle of life on the English Channel isle of Guernsey
This deceptively plain-spoken story of a mans years passing in review before him struck me, when I first read it in 1981, as a beautifully crafted job of writing. Upon rereading it recently, I redoubled my liking and admiration for both Ebenezer and Edwards. Ivan Doig, Christian Science Monitor
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, by G. B. Edwards, is an inexhaustible book I never tire of giving. It is literally one of a kind, a work with no precedent, sponsorship, or pedigree. A true epic, as sexy as it is hilarious, it seems drenched with the harsh tidal beauties of its setting, the isle of Guernsey
For every person nearing retirement, every latent writer who hopes to leave his island and find the literary mainland, its authorquiet, self-sufficient, tidy Homericremains a patron saint. Allan Gurganus, O Magazine
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, by G. B. Edwards, is an oddity and a great literary wonder, written in the beautiful French patios of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands
[Edwards] feels intensely about everything and everyone in this deliciously rich novel of longing and love. Archipelago
Here is an islander; an island man, solitary, unmarried, alienated, who describes the modern denaturing of our world. Granite quarries and tomatoes and early potatoes; but then come tourists, international companies, tax evaders, occupation by Germans, etcetera. The New York Review of Books
Books: Forced to choose, we'd pick The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards as our favorite novel of all time. The recollections of a cranky old man on the island of Guernsey, Guy Davenport of the Times wrote, when the book was first published here in 1981: A masterpiece...One of the best novels of our time...I know of no description of happiness in modern literature equal to the one that ends this novel. Hard for us to imagine a more pleasurable weekend than one spent with Ebenezer Le Page.Manhattan Users Guide
