{"product_id":"an-arrow-in-flight-selected-stories-of-mary-lavin","title":"An Arrow in Flight: Selected Stories of Mary Lavin","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost of these stories keep close to home: Dublin, County Meath and the families living there. Colm Tóibín chooses sixteen of Mary Lavin's stories and introduces them for new readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReadical Key Points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSixteen stories by Mary Lavin, chosen by Colm Tóibín, with his introduction\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStarred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNamed one of \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e's best books of 2026 so far, according to the publisher\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePaperback, 416 pages, Scribner, 2026; Lavin's first collection appeared in 1942\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTóibín's introduction places most of them in the 1940s and 1950s. They follow parents and their adult children, married couples, and women who are friends, often at the point where a family's expectations press hardest on one person. Marriage, family tension and the social mores of mid-century Ireland shape what her characters can say out loud. Lavin's prose is plain and exact, and the humor sits right beside the sorrow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLavin published often in \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e from the 1940s through the 1960s, yet much of her work had fallen out of print before this selection, according to the publisher. It suits readers of the Irish short story, readers of Tóibín's own fiction, and anyone drawn to quiet domestic drama. Tóibín's selection brings a mid-century \u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e regular back to American shelves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMary Lavin (1912–1996) was born in Massachusetts and raised in Ireland. \u003cem\u003eTales from Bective Bridge\u003c\/em\u003e (1942), her first story collection, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; she also received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Katherine Mansfield Prize, and served as president of Irish PEN. Her novels include \u003cem\u003eThe House in Clewe Street\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Brand New and Readical Ready.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReadical™ is an independent bookstore and reading-products brand built around a simple idea: books matter most when what we learn leaves the page and enters our lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eApply the Page. Get Readical™.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47854468432021,"sku":"JC-4NMV-9604","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0800\/5861\/3909\/files\/57_e6487b9c-142c-4446-975a-122392e91837.jpg?v=1787902355","url":"https:\/\/readical.com\/products\/an-arrow-in-flight-selected-stories-of-mary-lavin","provider":"Readical","version":"1.0","type":"link"}