The Boarding House by William Trevor - a darkly comic novel by one of the world''s best writers

William Bird has always taken in boarders who are on the fringes of society: the petty conman, the immigrant who''s never been able to fit in, the blustering officer who really doesn''t know what''s what , and the just plain lonely. He''s built a unique place with a unique atmosphere. But then he realizes he''s dying, and he decides to leave the place to the two tenants likely to cause the greatest amount of trouble, and the whole enterprise goes up in smoke.

William Trevor''s dark comedy, reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh and Muriel Spark, was his second novel.

''Trevor has the knack of slicing life so that it reveals lower layers we have not suspected'' Daily Mail

''He tells you the most outrageous things in a most pleasant manner, hardly ever raising his voice'' Guardian

William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, in 1928, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He has lived in England for many years. The author of numerous acclaimed collections of short stories and novels, he has won many awards including the Whitbread Book of the Year, The James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. He has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize: in 1976 with his novel The Children of Dynmouth, in 1991 with Reading Turgenev and in 2002 with The Story of Lucy Gault. He recently received the prestigious David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime''s literary achievement.