--- product_id: 59854659 title: "Mrs. Osmond: A novel" brand: "john banville" price: "£18.04" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 6 category: "Books" url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/59854659-mrs-osmond-a-novel store_origin: GB region: Great Britain --- # Mrs. Osmond: A novel **Brand:** john banville **Price:** £18.04 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Mrs. Osmond: A novel by john banville - **How much does it cost?** £18.04 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/59854659-mrs-osmond-a-novel) ## Best For - john banville enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted john banville brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Review “Banville’s ability to channel James’s style and prose rhythms is astonishing. I can’t imagine anyone who could have done it better.” —Jeffrey Eugenides, The New York Times Book Review“As impressive an act of stylistic channeling as anything I’ve read. . . . Like its source text, Mrs. Osmond investigates what happens when liberty runs up against those forces that would constrain it: personal history, secret plots, money, evil itself.” —Anthony Domestico, The Boston Globe“A novel that is at once an epochal act of imitation, salutation and imagination.” —NPR   “A brilliant and beguiling novel on its own, and a reminder to us that not only does great literature endure, it engenders.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune   “Something like a jazz improvisation on a classic song, or a new orchestration of earlier tunes and disharmonies.” —London Review of Books  “Banville is one of the best novelists in English. . . . Mrs Osmond is both a remarkable novel in its own right and a superb pastiche.” —Edmund White, The Guardian   “[A] modern classic . . . a striking imagined follow-up to Portrait of a Lady.” —Entertainment Weekly   “A brilliant feat of literary ventriloquism. . . . Richly enjoyable and enthralling, this exercise in creative empathy is a sequel of very high finish.” —The Sunday Times (London)   “An audacious sequel.” —O, The Oprah Magazine   “Fusing the essence of James’s style with his own signature wit and irony, Banville crafts a story that will delight and inspire classicists.” —Harper’s Bazaar   “Less a sequel to Portrait than a kind of recapitulation of it, a filtering of its events through a different novelistic consciousness. . . . There’s something inherently fun about being reintroduced, in a changed context, to all these half-familiar characters.” —Financial Times   “Banville does an impeccable job of re-creating James’ prose style and moving his characters forward in believable ways. As Mrs. Osmond progresses, his wicked sense of humor emerges more, and he adds twists to the plot James would have cloaked in reticence.” —Tampa Bay Times   “[Written] with wit, daring, vivid description and a sense of fun.” —The Irish Times   “[An] act of literary ventriloquism and imagination.” —The Independent   “A great storyteller. [Banville’s] book is not only an impressive recreation of James’s atmospheres and pacing, but also full of minor cliffhangers and page-turning suspenses that keep you guessing.” —The Observer   “[Banville] pulls off [Mrs. Osmond] with vigor and style. It’s hard to say no to a second helping of Isabel Archer.”  —The Seattle Times   “So successful it felt like discovering a new Henry James novel.” —Lara Feigel, The Guardian   “Banville’s ventriloquism is word-perfect.” —Vulture Read more About the Author JOHN BANVILLE, the author of sixteen novels, has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, and a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction. He lives in Dublin. Read more See all Editorial Reviews ## Images ![Mrs. Osmond: A novel - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41wjKm1PtyL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐ The denouement is the best part *by S***I on January 28, 2018* Having just re-read Portrait of a Lady, with relish, I couldn't wait to find out what would become of Isabel! So I closed Portrait and opened Mrs. Osmond, almost on the same day, and began reading with happy anticipation. But...12% in (on a Kindle), I began to suspect that finding out the fate of our heroine was going to be a lot of work, involving detours and convolutions, each given its several pages. At 50%, our heroine was still traveling between England and Rome. At 69%, I began to skim, watching for quotation marks that might signal a forwarding of the plot. At 80%, every word got my attention, and Mrs.Osmond became a good story at last. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Terrific, but... *by C***R on December 10, 2017* I enjoyed this book enormously. Banville captures James’s early style in a way that can’t help to bring a smile to the lips of James aficionados (though I admit I couldn’t help but think of it as “James-lite”). The story is engaging and has more suspense in some ways than Portrait itself. The ending has several interesting twists, but also is the reason I couldn’t give the book a 5th star. Somehow it’s just not believable or satisfying, especially the Pansy “turn.” Still, for anyone who loves Portrait, as I do, I would strongly recommend it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ BANVILLE AIMS HIGH AND HITS THE MARK *by L***N on March 4, 2018* First let it be said that John Banville is a great writer. This latest novel is slightly flawed by a few passages that read as precious or strained; however, one must keep in mind that the author has taken on a highly daring and difficult work of imagination---writing a sequel to one of the greatest and best loved novels of Henry James: THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. I felt at every moment that I was absolutely and authentically in the company of Isabel Archer Osmond. The settings and mood are perfectly Jamesian. Best of all, Banville gives us the resolution we long for with regard to the sterile and monstrously selfish Gilbert Osmond as well as that cunning Medusa, Madame Serena Merle. We even have a satisfying resolution for the long-suffering Pansy Osmond. Moreover, we believe that the beautiful, wealthy, brilliant, still young and thoroughly good Isabel may actually have happiness in her future. Banville does it all without a trace of sentimentality. This is an immensely enjoyable book---even for the Henry James purist. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/59854659-mrs-osmond-a-novel](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/59854659-mrs-osmond-a-novel) --- *Product available on Desertcart Great Britain* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-01*