Corrigan

By Caroline Blackwood
Afterword by Andrew Solomon

Corrigan is at once a mordant comedy of manners and a very modern morality play. Since her husband's death, the increasingly frail Mrs. Blunt has had only her trips to his grave to look forward to. Her raucous housekeeper's conversation, and cooking, are best forgotten. Nadine, her daughter, is an infrequent, uneasy visitor. Then one day a charming, wheelchair-bound Irishman shows up at Mrs. Blunt's door in search of charitable contributions. Corrigan is an arch manipulator, Mrs. Blunt is his mark, and before long we realize that they are made for each other. As the two grow ever more entrenched, Nadine fears for her mother's safety (or is it for her own inheritance?). With Corrigan Caroline Blackwood takes a long, hard look at our dearly beloved notions of saints and sinners, victims and villains, patrimony and present pleasure—and winks.

Read the afterword (PDF)

Reviews

Some may complain Miss Blackwood's style is that of a highly gifted reporter rather than a novelist, but that is to underrate both the imaginative quality of her detail and the architectural subtlety with which she builds it into her text. I find her unique and utterly compelling.
— Jacky Gilott, The Times (London)

Funny, frightening and immensely enjoyable. The author writes with an appalled, amused intensity that is completely original but without a trace of pretentiousness. The result is unexpectedly powerful, like a box of chocolates with amphetamine centers.
— Francis Wyndham, Sunday Times (London)

A fine creation—manic, at times demonic.
— Penelope Lively, Sunday Telegraphy

Caroline Blackwood combines a childlike neatness and exactitude of expression with an adult susceptibility to the charm of the unexpected and devious: an effective mix.
— The Times Literary Supplement

Domesticity for Miss Blackwood has never been cozy; she listens for the ticking of the time bomb in the teapot.
— Carolyn Geiser, The New York Times Book Review

Also see:

Great Granny Webster By Caroline Blackwood Introduction by Honor Moore This macabre, mordantly funny, partly auto-biographical novel reveals the gothic craziness behind the scenes in the great houses of the aristocracy, as witnessed through the unsparing eyes of an orphaned teenage girl.

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