Bealport

‘The story is tightly and neatly constructed, and the hermetic nature of Bealport … is deeply appealing, drenched in sympathetic nostalgia, folksy charm and pithy one-liners.’ 
Times Literary Supplement

‘Lewis has created a rich tapestry of life. In lean, poetically precise prose he lays bare the realities of a town in decline and reveals the fears, secrets and aspirations that animate ordinary lives.’
Mail on Sunday

‘A hugely satisfying read.’ 
Evening Standard

An old shoe factory in a coastal New England town is up for sale again.

When it’s bought by a venture capitalist with a fondness for the factory’s shoes, a story with profound implications is set in motion.

NORUMBEGA (Makers of Fine Footwear Since 1903) is a hobby for Roger Keysinger. For the residents of Bealport – whose livelihoods, self-respect, and interconnectedness hinge on its survival – it is something infinitely greater.

Unsparing, comic, tragic, and universal, Bealport is a portrait of a town, of towns like it across America and beyond, and of a way of life that is passing.

JEFFREY LEWIS has won a string of awards for his novels including the Independent Publishers Gold Medal for Literary Fiction. He has also received two Emmy Awards and the Writer’s Guild Award for his work as a television writer and producer.

Also by this author, Land of Cockaigne, Meritocracy: A Love Story, Adam the King, The Conference of the Birds, Berlin Cantata, The Inquisitor’s Diary, and The Meritocracy Quartet.