Theory of War

Theory of War

First edition (UK)
Author Joan Brady
Country United States
Language English
Publisher Andre Deutsch (UK)
Knopf (US)
Publication date
 1992 (UK), 1993 (US)
Media type Print
ISBN 0-233-98810-6

Theory of War is a 1992[1] novel by American-British writer Joan Brady. It took her ten years to write but was rejected by her US agent. It was then published by UK publisher Andre Deutsch to 'rapturous reviews'[2] It has been compared to the writing of John Steinbeck, Jack London and Frank Norris[3]

Awards

It became Whitbread Novel of the Year and Book of the Year in the UK, won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in France and was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts grant in the US.[4]

Plot introduction

It tells the story of Jonathan Carrick, sold into white slavery as a child in post-Civil War America[5] and is based on the life of Joan Brady's own grandfather who himself was sold to a midwestern tobacco farmer for fifteen dollars.[6]

Cruelly treated by his master Alvah Stokes, it is Alvah's son George who becomes the object of a hatred that endures half a century. forced to submit, but never submissive, Jonathan's escape into a new life as a railroadman, then as an itinerant preacher, opens up a new world for him. But within him lies the need for revenge - a war against George, in fact - that must be safisfied[7]

Joan Brady explains "Theory of War is an attempt to understand what my grandfather might have felt about what he'd gone through, and what we - his descendents - still have to cope with because of it.[8]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/edition/?isbn=0233988106
  2. ↑ http://www.joanbrady.co.uk/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=61 Flourishing despite some twisted roots, The Independent, January 24, 1994, By Angela Lambert
  3. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/book-review--slaves-to-the-american-dream-theory-of-war--joan-brady-andre-deutsch-pounds-1499-1471131.html Slaves to the American dream, book Review from The Independent
  4. ↑ http://www.joanbrady.co.uk/theory-of-war.asp www.joanbrady.co.uk
  5. ↑ Rear cover of 1996 Abacus edition
  6. ↑ Author's note in 1996 Abacus edition
  7. ↑ Rear cover, 1996 Abacus edition
  8. ↑ Author's note in 1996 Abacus edition

External links

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