The Leavetaking. London: Faber & Faber, 1974. First Edition. Pp, 195. A nice bright copy in pictorial dust jacket.

Signed by the author on the title page.

The Leavetaking recounts a young Catholic couple’s struggle to overcome the suffocating influence of the church in order to find happiness in a fulfilling adult love. The narrative follows Patrick Moran on his last day at a Catholic school, from which he faces dismissal for marrying an American divorcee, a union the Church deems immoral

The story is deeply personal and draws on McGahern’s own experience of being forced to resign from his teaching position after controversy over his second novel, The Dark.