The Honeymoon

A young American's life in Europe comes apart in this Man Booker Prize long-listed debut with "echoes of Ford Madox Ford and F. Scott Fitzgerald" (Tom Penn, The Times Literary Supplement, UK). Set in London and Venice at the end of the twentieth century, The Honeymoon follows a young man's journey into his own past and the strange events that caused his life to unravel. American-born Gordon Garraty spent much of his childhood traveling through the capitals of Europe with his eccentric mother Maureen. As Maureen worked on her interminable art guide, Gordon recorded their journeys with his camera. Only later, while working in London as a freelance photographer, did Gordon begin to emerge from his mother's influence--and meet Annie. Several years his senior and the daughter of a North London cabbie, Annie is Gordon's first love--and after a dizzying courtship, his wife. But when they take a honeymoon in Venice, Gordon and Annie are accompanied by Maureen and her new Swiss fiancé. The brilliance of the city seems to distort rather than illuminate. Jealousy, suspicion, and conflicting desires rise to a palpable intensity before a single act of absurd but devastating violence lays bare the emptiness at the core of their gilded lives. A deeply observant and expertly crafted tale, "The Honeymoon looks askance upon the beautiful and splendid, plumbing the stilted emotional depths of two wayward Americans who appear to have arrived via Henry James into the late 1980's" (Los Angeles Times).

About the Author :
Justin Haythe was born in London in 1973. This is his first novel. He now lives in New York City.

Review :
"A recasting of Ian McEwan's disquieting ode to creepy Venice, The Comfort of Strangers, complete with requisite unexpected bloodshed. But The Honeymoon isn't a mere retread . . . [it's] a sophisticated take on all the big stuff (love, class, death, Bellinis) whose evanescent prose shimmers like mist rising off the Grand Canal." --The Los Angeles Times "[Haythe] has a facility for terse dialogue and moody lighting. He's obviously a great new talent in the Highsmith mold." --Gabe Weisert, The San Francisco Chronicle "A sublime and moving tale, thanks to Haythe's elegant prose, nuanced characterizations and flashes of humor. . . . [An] impressive debut." --Lorraine Korman, Time Out New York "Justin Haythe has constructed a subtle, disturbing and enigmatic novel . . . with its themes of dysfunction and dislocation shifting beneath an apparently gilded existence, The Honeymoon carries echoes of Ford Madox Ford and F. Scott Fitzgerald. . . . Through its uneasy, compelling narrator, The Honeymoon emerges as a substantial achievement, a beguiling and significant new work." --Tom Penn, The Times Literary Supplement (UK)