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Last Stories

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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Stories by William Trevor, read by Niamh Cusack, Stephen Hogan and Tara Fitzgerald.

In this final collection of ten exquisite, perceptive and profound stories, William Trevor probes into the depths of the human spirit. Here we encounter a tutor and his pupil, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when they meet again years later; a young girl who discovers the mother she believed dead is alive and well; and a piano-teacher who accepts her pupil's theft in exchange for his beautiful music. These gorgeous stories - the last that Trevor wrote before his death - affirm his place as one of the world's greatest storytellers.

'What a writer he was; he could flip over a sentence so gently, and show the underbelly in a heartbeat. His work is always quietly compassionate' Elizabeth Strout

'Trevor is a master of both language and storytelling' Hilary Mantel

'He is one of the great short-story writers, at his best the equal of Chekhov' John Banville

 Anthologies & Short Stories Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Grief & Loss Literary Fiction Personal Development Relationships Short Stories

Critic reviews

None but those with a complete mastery of fiction can walk this line. William Trevor was not "an Irish Chekhov" or even "the Irish Chekhov". He was and will remain the Irish William Trevor
10 stories bring a literary career that lasted more than half a century to a consummate conclusion
William Trevor's prose runs as clear as water yet tastes like gin
Extraordinary stories from ordinary lives
One of the great contemporary chroniclers of the human condition, in all its pathos, comedy and strangeness. As a writer he looked at the world with an always surprised but never scandalised eye, and his writer's heart was with those awkward and obscurely damaged souls who cannot quite manage the business of everyday life - all of us, that is
There are those rare, exceptional writers who are fortunate enough (like their readers) to burn bright and steady over many decades, expressing the same creative clarity at the end of their careers as they did at the beginning. William Trevor was one of those writers
We honor him as the supreme master of his honest art
In the first few paragraphs of a story he could set an entire scene without seeming to, working on details, small moments, odd thoughts. As in the work of Alice Munro, there often seemed to be very little happening in his fiction, but then he was capable of offering the reader a sense of an immense drama
His stories are formally beautiful and, at the same time, interested in the smallness of human lives. He was, as a writer, watchful, unsentimental, alert to frailty and malice. A master craftsman
Trevor is a master of both language and storytelling
All stars
Most relevant
Although “quietly written” prose seems an appropriate description and, “a light touch” an even better observation, the total effect of each and everyone of these stories is devastating.
Many of the human situations which are encountered seem dated at first and then very insistently, they become excruciatingly relevant and recognizable.
Not like Alice Munro, not like Helen Garner and not situated only in the male gaze either.. what a remarkable tour de force.
Vale William Trevor.

Troubling and memorable

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What can you say, this work is Carver-esque, the best compliment I can think of for a short story collection. Loved it. Will now read through the back catelogue.

Glorious stuff

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I like the short story format and William Trevor is a brilliant exponent of the art form. Each story packed with subtle emotional naunces which show the author at the top of his game.

Beautifully narrated ..

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The stories require a number of listenings to begin to understand their meaning. Even then they are elusive but intriguing. I loved the haunting performances of Stephen Hogan and Niamh Cusack but Tara Fitzgerald’s reading was too fast and too unvarying in tone.

Subtle and sad in a good way!

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these short stories are, as if written during a time gone by, but are contemporary and memorable.

beautifully written stories.

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