Gabrielle, I liked Lucy Gault very much, it introduced me to Trevor's Writings. I've not read either of the others you mention although I do keep hearing about the author

Hi Sheila, I think William Trevor's forte is really the short story. He describes himself as "a short story writer who enjoys writing novels."

I think two of his best novellas are READING TUGENEV and MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA, which can be found together in the book called TWO LIVES. MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA was made into a lovely film with Maggie Smith in the lead.

As far as short story volumes go, I think AFTER RAIN and THE HILL BACHELORS are his best.

I'm always impressed with how quiet and understated, but powerful Trevor's writing is.

I think LOVE AND SUMMER is his 15th novel and he has so many volumes of short stories. LOVE AND SUMMER was longlisted for this year's Booker, but sadly, it didn't make the shortlist.

For some reason I always mix up William Trevor and Brian Moore, who wrote one of my all-time favorites, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. I think I talked Steve into reading this eons ago. I have many Wm Trevors on my shelf but have yet to read any of them. I think Reading Turgenev was a CR selection, also many years ago, but I didn't partake. I need to read him.

I've never read Brian Moore, though I keep meaning to. I've heard nothing but good things about him. Just so many books! Better than too few, though.

I loved the comments about William Trevor. I love this writer -- especially the short stories, though I enjoyed "Felicia's Journey" (on which they based a lousy movie.) Occasionally I have xeroxed copies of particularly wonderful stories from the New Yorker. One of them, published there March 9, 1998 is called "Of the Cloth." The elegant, spare story of a meeting between two churchmen in rural Ireland. It is part of his published anthologies, but right now I'm not sure which one. Trevor has a way of building almost unbearable tension as you feel a character struggling to reach some resolution. I think of a story about a young, not-too-bright young man in London who has been set up to set off a bomb.

I haven't read that story, Sylvia. I love all Trevor's stories, though. I've yet to read one I didn't like. I have THE COLLECTED STORIES OF WILLIAM TREVOR, but it doesn't include the later stories so I have those volumes, like A BIT ON THE SIDE and CHEATING AT CANASTA.

I liked DEATH IN SUMMER a little more than FELICIA'S JOURNEY, though I loved both. LOVE AND SUMMER is great, but I think my favorites are still THE STORY OF LUCY GAULT and TWO LIVES.

It's great to meet someone else who loves William Trevor as much as I do. I don't know where you're from, but in the US I think people talk about Trevor more than they actually read him. It breaks my heart that he's never won the Booker.

It's so nice to hear from you -- funny isn't it how it is such a pleasure to share joy various writers give you. "Of the Cloth" is in "The Hill Bachelors". I keep my favorite books on a shelf behind my bed. I have a copy of Alice Adams short stories (she is dead now, San Francisco writer). Her short story about her cat "The Islands" helped me recover from the loss of a beloved cat. One of my favorite short books is Nabokov's "Speak Memory" -- the one he rewrote before his death.

Oh, I have THE HILL BACHELORS on my shelf. I can see it now, from here. I'll have to look for the story.

I'm so sorry about your cat. I know how you feel. I have a beautiful cat I just adore.

I'm still trying to recover from the loss of my beloved dog on August 3rd. He had been my best friend for fourteen years. He seemed so healthy, then one day, we found out he had cancer. The really bad part is we were told his tumor was benign, so we put him through a terrible surgery just four days before he died. I can never forgive myself for that. He just wanted to come home so badly. I was terrified I wouldn't get to the clinic before he died, but I did, and thankfully, I got to spend some time with him, but he was heavily sedated, though I know he recognized us. I'm thankful for that.

Dear Gabrielle -- so sorry about your dog. There is just no easy way to recover from the pain of loss and feeling you might have done the wrong thing, though of course you did the right thing. There are so few happy endings for beloved pets. It sounds from your comments that you are in England. We are in the San Francisco Bay Area 30 miles from San Francisco. We have a new library opening in our town (Castro Valley) that I have been working on (with many others of course) for years and years. This will be October 31st. My blog is www.greenridge10.blogspot.com

Hi Sylvia, Thank you so much. I miss my sweet Charlie every moment. Yes, it seems our wonderful pets do have a difficult time of it. We once had four dogs and one cat. Now we just have Kitty, but Charlie was the dog I was closest to.

I'm on the east coast of the US now, though I did live in southern England, in Zuerich, Switzerland, and in France for a time.

I'll take a look at your blog. Thanks so much for the link.

Gabrielle, I'm a Maggie Smith fan and loved My House in Umbria. I haven't read Love and Summer yet. But have enjoyed both his short stories and novels.

Sarah, I don't know Brian Moore's writing although I do recall the film of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne - another Maggies Smith one!

Sylvia, Alice Adams is another new one for me.

For anyone interested in short stories do come over to the CR short Story thread, We read one every two weeks.

Oh, so glad to hear you've seen MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA, Sheila. I love it, too. In fact, I own it. Even my husband loved it. He's a real fan of comedies, but I'm getting him to watch period pieces and art house films like MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA with me. He loved LADIES IN LAVENDER and TEA WITH MUSSOLINI, so the guy has to have much good in him.

I didn't even know THE LONELY PASSION OF JUDITH HEARNE was a film! Now, I'll want to add that to my collection, but I'd better play it safe and wait. I've not read the book.

Gabrielle, I've seeen most of Maggie Smith's films and I've been a fan since I saw her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. But I have to say I thought Cher stole the show in tea with Mussolini. Maggie Smith is such a stalwart of the British cinema and stage. My favorite piece is her in Lady in The Van by Alan Bennett. I have the BBC Radio Audio Recording of that and its fantastic. I think her comic timing is exceptional.

I agree, Cher did steal the whole show in TEA WITH MUSSOLINI. She was wonderful.

I think my favorite Maggie Smith movie is THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE.

Sheila, I can definitely click the books you have just read and get your reviews on your blog. And, I can comment there too. So, as long as you can get to goodreads, we can have dialogue--both there and on the board.

And, thanks for reminding everyone about the Short Stories conference on goodreads. We'd love to have you there, everyone.

Tx for checking that Barb. I'll keep being here.