The Gambler

The second, haunting novel of the author's trilogy began with the critically-acclaimed The Dancer is set in Dublin between the wars. Christine Dwyer Hickey paints a disturbingly accurate picture of a family's slow decline. The shadowy figure of the dancer reappears while his son, the gambler of the title, struggles through to early manhood. The twin addictions of father and son, alcoholic and gambler, seep through the pages leaving an indelible mark. At once disquieting and deeply resonant, the plight of her characters creates a vivid sense of time and place, where, in an age of desperate poverty, the tortuous forces of life are brought down to bear on this Dublin family. In The Gambler a powerful creative imagination is at work.