One day, out of the blue, Henry Nagel inherits a sumptuous apartment in St John's Wood. Divine intervention? Or his late father's love nest? Henry doesn't know, but he is glad to escape the North. After nearly sixty years of angry disappointment, Henry's life is about to change. Not that the ghosts of Henry's past are prepared to disappear without a struggle
- his old school-friend & rival Osmond ' Hovis' Belkin, currently enjoying success in Hollywood, his tragic great aunt Marghanita for whom Henry once entertained a dangerous passion, & his father Izzi, upholsterer turned illusionist, fire-eater & origamist, whose shade Henry interrogates relentlessly. But the present clamours as loudly as the past. His dyspeptic neighbour Lachlan wants his sympathy, Lachlan's sloppy red setter, Angus, wants a walk, & Moira, the waitress with the crooked smile & custard hair, seems to want him. Kicking & screaming every inch of the way, Henry realises he might finally be falling in love.
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One day, out of the blue, Henry Nagel receives a solicitor's letter telling him he has inherited a sumptuous apartment in St John's Wood. Divine intervention? Or his late father's love nest? Henry doesn't know, but he is glad to escape the North, where there is nothing & no one to keep him.

After nearly sixty years of angry disappointment, Henry's life is about to change. Not that the ghosts of Henry's past are prepared to disappear without a struggle
- his old school-friend & rival Osmond ' Hovis' Belkin, currently enjoying a spectacularly successful career in Hollywood, his tragic great aunt Marghanita for whom Henry once entertained a dangerous passion, & his father Izzi Nagel, upholsterer turned illusionist, fire-eater & origamist, whose shade Henry interrogates relentlessly.

But the present clamours as loudly as the past. His dyspeptic neighbour Lachlan wants his sympathy, Lachlan's sloppy red setter, Angus, wants a walk, & Moira, the waitress with the crooked smile & custard hair who serves him cake & cappuccino, seems to want him. Kicking & screaming every inch of the way, Henry realises he might finally be falling in love. Will love be the making of Henry? Or will walking his neighbour's dog?

Tender, funny & beautifully told, The Making of Henry is Howard Jacobson's richest novel to date. The writing makes you gasp with pleasure, the story builds effortlessly to its crescendo of revelations, & above all, it adds a new warmth to his reputation as the most exhilaratingly intelligent of contemporary novelists.






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One day, out of the blue, Henry Nagel inherits a sumptuous apartment in St John's Wood. Divine intervention? Or his late father's love nest? Henry doesn't know, but he is glad to escape the North. After nearly sixty years of angry disappointment, Henry's life is about to change. Not that the ghosts of Henry's past are prepared to disappear without a struggle
- his old school-friend & rival Osmond ' Hovis' Belkin, currently enjoying success in Hollywood, his tragic great aunt Marghanita for whom Henry once entertained a dangerous passion, & his father Izzi, upholsterer turned illusionist, fire-eater & origamist, whose shade Henry interrogates relentlessly. But the present clamours as loudly as the past. His dyspeptic neighbour Lachlan wants his sympathy, Lachlan's sloppy red setter, Angus, wants a walk, & Moira, the waitress with the crooked smile & custard hair, seems to want him. Kicking & screaming every inch of the way, Henry realises he might finally be falling in love.
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