The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens, Paperback, 9780349130224 | Buy online at The Nile
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The Elected Member

Author: Bernice Rubens  

Paperback

The 1970 Booker Prize-winning novel. Norman is the clever one of a closely-knit Jewish family in London's East End. Infant prodigy, brilliant barrister, the apple of his parents' eyes - until at 41 he becomes a drug addict, confined to his bedroom, at the mercy of his hallucinations and paranoia.

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Summary

The 1970 Booker Prize-winning novel. Norman is the clever one of a closely-knit Jewish family in London's East End. Infant prodigy, brilliant barrister, the apple of his parents' eyes - until at 41 he becomes a drug addict, confined to his bedroom, at the mercy of his hallucinations and paranoia.

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Description

Norman is the clever one of a close-knit Jewish family in the East End of London. Infant prodigy; brilliant barrister; the apple of his parents' eyes... until at forty-one he becomes a drug addict, confined to his bedroom, at the mercy of his hallucinations and paranoia.

For Norman, his committal to a mental hospital represents the ultimate act of betrayal. For Rbbi Zweck, Norman's father, his son's deterioration is a bitter reminder of his own guilt and failure. Only Bella, the unmarried sister, still in her childhood white ankle socks, can reach across the abyss of pain to bring father and son the elusive peace which they both desperately crave.

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Awards

Winner of Booker Prize for Fiction 1970

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Critic Reviews

“The writing sparkles and flickers and blazes.”

She has a large compassion, and an intelligence which makes her compulsively readable. - NEW STATESMAN

Splendidly sane, compassionate and often grotesquely funny. - DAILY TELEGRAPH

- JEWISH CHRONICLE

The novel moves from intense emotion to humour and pathos to the frightening realisation that those who are surrounded by the insane quickly become insane themselves. Read it. - DARTS

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About the Author

Bernice Rubens was born is Wales and worked as both a writer and a film maker. She is the winner of the Booker Prize for The Elected Member, and was shortlisted for the same prize for a subsequent novel: A Five Year Sentence. She died in 2004.

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More on this Book

Norman is the clever one of a close-knit Jewish family in the East End of London. Infant prodigy; brilliant barrister; the apple of his parents' eyes... until at forty-one he becomes a drug addict, confined to his bedroom, at the mercy of his hallucinations and paranoia.For Norman, his committal to a mental hospital represents the ultimate act of betrayal. For Rbbi Zweck, Norman's father, his son's deterioration is a bitter reminder of his own guilt and failure. Only Bella, the unmarried sister, still in her childhood white ankle socks, can reach across the abyss of pain to bring father and son the elusive peace which they both desperately crave.

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group | Abacus
Published
1st January 1988
Pages
224
ISBN
9780349130224

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