Breakfast in Babylon: A novel - Softcover

Martin, Emer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0863274838 ISBN 13: 9780863274831

Publisher: Wolfhound Press, 1995

Synopsis

Leaving home at sixteen, Isolt, a young Irish addict, joins up with Christopher, a petty criminal on the run from his record in the U.S., and together they drift through the slums and dark underside of Europe, a world of beggars, criminals, and drug dealers. IP. "

About this title

About the Author:

Emer Martin was born in Dublin in 1968. She has lived in London, Paris, and the Middle East, and graduated as valedictorian from Hunter College in 1998. Her first novel, Breakfast in Babylon, was named Ireland's Best Book of 1996 at the prestigious Listowel Writers' Week. More Bread or I'll Appear is her second novel.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A sobering if unsure tale of the flotsam of Europe--beggars and junkies living from one score and squat to the next--and of a young woman's experience as a part of it, in a debut from Dublin- born Martin. Paris is where the bulk of the action takes place, as Irish teenager Isolt lands penniless among the beggars and quickly adapts to their ways. The death from a stumble down stairs of an alcoholic friend, an older, once beautiful woman who escaped husband and children to find refuge among the addicts, is an early lesson for Isolt, but it comes at a time when she's not quite ready to heed it. When the chill of Paris becomes too much, she and her friends hop a train to the southern coast, but aside from sampling a new drug that makes them all crazy, sleeping on the beach hasn't much appeal. Isolt returns to the city and pairs up with Christopher, a Hispanic dealer/junkie from Detroit whose dark side the others fear but whose housing tips generally keep them all dry. When he uses up a drug shipment he was supposed to sell, however, things start to go sour. The gentle giant living with Isolt and junkie Christopher is beaten to death by their supplier's thugs, so they flee to London, where Isolt can live on the dole. A marriage for the conveniences that citizenship would offer follows, but Christopher's barbaric nature quickly warps the relationship. Isolt falls desperately in love with one of her ex-squatmates, only to see this path to redemption nipped in the bud when her husband locks her up and brutalizes her again. She escapes to America, looking for a fresh start. Excessive commentary and a complicated, unconvincing villain don't help this gloomy if undeniably frank and vivid story, leaving one to hope for a firmer hand on the reins next time. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wolfhound Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0863274838
• ISBN 13: 9780863274831
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288