By Edwin O'Connor

Father Hugh Kennedy has come home. Newly sober, he is charged by his bishop with a derelict, dusty, and dying parish, in a decrepit part of the city. Quite content with his lot, Father Hugh is suddenly pulled back into a past world: the exuberant, turbulent, Irish-American world in which he was born and raised. With one telephone call, old Charlie Carmody brings Father Hugh out of his hum-drum, methodical priestly life, and gives him a place in the story of the Carmody family: old Charlie, his doting daughter, Mary, and free-spirited daughter, Helen; his prodigal son, Dan, and his priest son, John, and a complete supporting cast of vividly drawn and utterly memorable characters.

At first, Father Hugh is as much in the dark as anyone about the exact plot and this story and the purpose of his unexpected casting in it; yet as he renews the old acquaintances and rehears the old stories, the reasons begin to come to light—and with them, an edge of sadness.

“I knew at once some element of happiness was missing. The edge of sadness was visible…”

Written with a simple dignity and gentleness, The Edge of Sadness is a story of faith, hope, and Irish affection—truthfully told and beautifully balanced between the poles of melancholy and mirth. Winner of the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Edwin O’Connor’s masterpiece is truly an unforgettable book. 

Edwin O’Connor (1918–1968) was an American author, critic, and novelist. With his 1956 novel The Last Hurrah, he was hailed “as one of the most gifted interpreters of American life” (The Chicago Tribune). O’Connor’s 1966 novel All in the Family is also available from Cluny. The Edge of Sadness is widely regarded as his best work.

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Paperback: 400pp.

ISBN: 978-1685953737