The New Life of Hugo Gardner
A Novel
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- 11,99 €
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- 11,99 €
Publisher Description
Beloved author Louis Begley returns to the monied halls of the Upper East Side with a sharp new comedy of manners. Divorced after decades of comfortable marriage, retired journalist Hugo Gardner sets out to explore paths not travelled.
After four decades of what he believes to be a happy, healthy partnership, Hugo Gardner's world is overturned when he learns that his wife, Valerie, is not only requesting a divorce but has left him for a younger, more vital man. Hugo, an octogenarian political writer and retired journalist for Time, must rethink the way he's lived, and reassess how he'd like to spend his remaining years.
Reconsidering past relationships in his mind, with years of distance, Hugo begins to see things in a new light: Valerie, whose youth and ambition eventually came between them; his children, whose support might be more financially than emotionally motivated; and his friends, who, like him are rapidly aging before his very eyes. With an ominous oncologist's report hanging over his head, Hugo decides to get away for a bit, to a conference in Paris. There, a new romance blooms and Hugo finds himself wondering if growing old in Paris might be the perfect antidote to the drama he left behind in New York.
Unflinching, witty, and urbane as ever, Louis Begley delivers a spot-on satire of the world of New York's aging elite, and uncovers the unexpected delights a late-in-life change can offer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The ghost of Louis Auchincloss hovers over this witty tale of Manhattan's Waspy, wealthy Upper East Siders by Begley (About Schmidt). Hugo Gardner, a retired Time bureau chief in his 80s, is shocked when Valerie, his wife of almost 40 years, announces her intention to divorce him. Hugo somewhat improbably had no idea that she was unhappy with their relationship, or that she was having an affair with a younger French restaurateur. An ugly confrontation with his adult daughter and a possible diagnosis of cancer impel Hugo to fly to Paris, where he has been invited to speak at a political conference. Once there, Hugo impulsively decides to look up Jeanne, his French lover from before he met Valerie. To Hugo's surprise, Jeanne agrees to meet, and before the reader can say coup de foudre, they have resumed their affair. But will this end up being the last great love of Hugo's life? As always, Begley dissects the workings of the WASP heart with great precision. Begley writes touchingly about an older American visiting Europe and finding a second chance at life by shaking off the doldrums of his previous existence. Hugo's octogenarian voyage of discovery will delight readers.