Eclipse Read online

  Blossom, speed thee well. The bud is in flower. Things can go wrong. My Marina, my Miranda, oh, my Perdita.

  JOHN BANVILLE

  Eclipse

  John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970. Among his other books are The Untouchable, Athena, Ghosts, Kepler, and The Book of Evidence (which was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize). He has also received a literary award from the Lannan Foundation. He is the former literary editor of the Irish Times and lives in Dublin.

  ALSO BY JOHN BANVILLE

  The Untouchable

  Athena

  Ghosts

  The Book of Evidence

  Mefisto

  The Newton Letter

  Kepler

  Doctor Copernicus

  Birchwood

  Nightspawn

  Long Lankin

  FIRST VINTAGE INTERNATIONAL EDITION, FEBRUARY 2002

  Copyright © 2000 by John Banville

  Vintage is a registered trademark and Vintage International and colophon

  are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the Knopf edition as follows:

  Banville, John.

  Eclipse: a novel / by John Banville.—1st American ed.

  p. cm.

  1. Actors—Fiction.

  I. Title.

  PR6052.A57 E25 2001

  823’.914—dc21 00-062014

  www.vintagebooks.com

  www.randomhouse.com

  eISBN: 978-0-307-42570-6

  v3.0