Ten Days

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'Austin Duffy's uniquely dry, laconic style adds a subversive and compelling charge to this moving and intense story of the relationship between a father and daughter. A terrific novel' - William Boyd

Wolf travels to New York with his daughter to scatter the ashes of his recently estranged wife, Miriam. Buffeted by the loss, his fraught relationship with his daughter and the antagonism of Miriam's conservative Jewish family, Wolf is also coming to terms with a burgeoning concern of his own: growing dislocations in his mind, and the hollowing out of his memories.

Set across the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Ten Days is a tender, nuanced and beautifully crafted story of a father's reckoning with his daughter and a profound, compelling meditation on family, time and the bonds of marriage.

'An absolutely beautiful book about time and mortality, love and memory, in which heartbreaking sadness and dry humour are held in exquisite tension' - Carys Davies

Reviews

Austin Duffy's uniquely dry, laconic style adds a subversive and compelling charge to this moving and intense story of the relationship between a father and daughter. A terrific novel -- William Boyd
A family epic that eddies in the wider current of history, and an incrementally devastating story of grief, guilt and memory -- Gavin Corbett, author of * This is the Way *
The moral propulsion behind this sad, bittersweet tale, and its sheer cleverness, had me reading into the early hours... Duffy displays enormous skill and subtlety... [he] can delineate character well... [and] he can write beautifully too... This is a quietly wonderful novel, full of resonance yet unforgiving in its gaze, and one where, the more you look into it, the more you will find -- Sunday Times
This novel is rooted in sadness... What this novel shows however is that no matter how unfair the world can be, life and love continues.... The writing in this book is so exquisite it helps the reader navigate the emotion and brings us to a deep understanding of Wolf's world and its challenges. Other characters too are sympathetically drawn. This is neither an easy nor a comforting read but it is thoughtful, gentle and beautifully crafted -- RT guide
A beautifully wrought, deeply affecting novel -- Anne Cunningham * Connaught Telegraph *
An absolutely beautiful book about time and mortality, love and memory, in which heartbreaking sadness and dry humour are held in exquisite tension. I was deeply moved and feel bereft to have finished it -- Carys Davies
Authentically rendered -- James Lawless * Irish Examiner *

Author Bio

AUSTIN DUFFY's debut novel This Living and Immortal Thing was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, was Runner-Up for the McKitterick Prize and was highly commended for the BMA Medical Books Awards. He grew up in Ireland, studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin and is a practising medical oncologist. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.