Author | Graham Swift |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Publisher | Allen Lane |
Publication date | August 1980 |
Media type | |
Pages | 221 |
ISBN | 0-7139-1247-2 |
The Sweet-Shop Owner is the debut novel of English author Graham Swift. It was published in 1980 to largely favourable reviews.[1]
The book is set on a sunny Friday in June 1974 and describes the routine of what turns out to be the last day in the life of Willy Chapman, the eponymous owner of a South London sweet shop. Central to the book is his relationship with his beautiful and yet distant wife Irene who bore him a daughter on the unspoken agreement that no love would be expressed between them. Interspersed with flashbacks to his earlier life, Willy attempts to justify himself to his estranged unforgiving daughter Dorry via an internal monologue.