Vintage Red **1st edition/1st printing/SIGNED** by Michael Judge - 2004

UK London: Robert Hale Limited, 2004. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. New/New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. NEW hardcover book signed by author on title page. A very rare and collectible book that deserves the adulation it receives. Michael Judge was educated at Colaiste Mhuire and University College Dublin after which he entered teaching and became a vice principal. He was at the same time writing extensively for radio, television, stage and screen, and having plays produced in Ireland, UK, USA, Canada, Germany and New Zealand. A founder member and subsequent chairman of the Society of Irish Playwrights, he has also served on the board of the European Writer's congress and as a shareholder of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. This is his first novel. This is a wonderful novel for anyone who enjoys books set in Ireland. It is a brilliant story about political corruption, personal aggrandisment and hypocrisy, interspersed with a most glorious love story that will stay with me for a long time. There are two main characters - Robert McGuinness, a property developer who is bent on self-glory - and Seamus Creedon, a shy teacher with a love of James Joyce. Their stories are interlinked over a period of years, although they never meet - Robert doing anything and everything, legal or otherwise, to ensure he gets what he wants - Seamus deeply in love with a woman who he is able to meet all too infrequently. The descriptions of Dublin contrasted with the wild countryside of Connemara as well as the lives of all involved are beautifully written and the book is an absolute joy. My only disappointment was to discover that the author, Michael Judge, a distinguished Irish playwright, produced this, his first novel, in 2004 at the venerable age of 83. Sadly, Michael Judge passed away in August 2015.