William Trevor Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Plays

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

William Trevor was a literary fiction author from England that is deemed one of the best authors of his generation.

The author was born in Mitchelstown in the United Kingdom, even though he lived in many provincial towns. He would also go to several colleges across the UK before he graduated with a degree in history from the Dublin-based Trinity College.
He first exercised his skills working as a sculptor before he went to Northern Ireland where he worked as a teacher. In an unfortunate event, his school went bankrupt and he was forced to move to England.

It was in England where he would become a very successful author writing a ton of books. Over the years, he has won many awards which solidified his place as one of the literary giants in the United Kingdom.

In addition to his novels, he is also renowned for his short story collections that have also won several awards. He currently makes his home in England where he has come to love just as much as he does Ireland.

In 1958, William Trevor made his debut as an author when he published “A Standard of Behavior.” While it did not get much critical acclaim the novel gave him the confidence that he could become a fiction author.

Barely two years later, he quit sculpting and got a job with an advertising agency in London writing copy. It was an absurd job as he would often be given a few lines of copy to write over nearly a week.

It was very boring but since he had a free typewriter that he used for work he just started penning his stories. He still believes the many people who complained about missing his sculpture must have been gushing over his short fiction works.
He would go on to pen several short stories and then two Hawthornden-winning novels. After winning several other prestigious award such as the Macmillan and the Whitbread Awards, he quit his job at the agency and became a full-time author.
Trevor is also the winner of the lifetime literary achievement David Cohen Literature Prize.

Over the years, William Trevor published more than 40 plays, short story collections, novels, and collections of nonfiction works.

In 1977, Trevor was made honorary CBE for his services to literature. In 2002, he was elevated to a KBE still in honorary terms since he holds Irish rather than British citizenship.

Ever since he became a professional author, he has been spending much of his time in Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland. When he was in England, he used to live in Devon in the South West on a forty-acre piece of land with an old mill.
William Trevor died in Somerset, England in 2016 and left a reputation as one of the masters of the short story genre to ever merge in the 20th century.

William Trevor’s novel “The Story of Lucy Gault” is a haunting and disquieting work that got a Booker Prize nomination in 2002.

At the opening of the novel, we are introduced to Heloise Gault and Captain Everard. They are prepared to leave their much loved and modest estate in Southern Ireland and head to England as they are threatened with arson.
However, Lucy, their eight-year-old daughter was very much in love with the seashore, the woods, and the flat rocks where she loved to play in the shrimp pools.

She came up with a plan to ensure she would not leave fueled by a combination of wilfulness and anxiety. This would tragically and completely alter the course of her life.

Lucy makes for a tragic heroine who years ago made a mistake that results in untold suffering for years. She lives a desperate life as he tries to make amends for running off and abandoning her parents, a decision that made them miserable for years.
The author also shines a light on how her actions had their love tested when they lost their daughter which resulted in endless grief and anguish.

“Love and Summer” by William Trevor is set in Rthmoye during the summer and nothing much has been going on.

As such, everybody perks up when a stranger with dark hair appears and begins taking photographs of mourners at the funeral of Mrs. Connulty.

The man is Florian Kilderry who does not know that the family of the dead woman are the owners of half the town. He is in town to take pictures of the ruins of the burnt-out cinema.

Meanwhile, Dillahan who is known as a decent man and farmer has gotten married out in the countryside. He has gotten married to a convent girl Ellie who had begun working for him when he lost his wife.

Ellie has been living a routine and quiet life and is often left all alone while Duillahan goes about his farming duties. Florian was just about to leave England and make a new life in England until he meets Ellie.

Soon enough, the two begin a reckless and dangerous attachment. In his very characteristic way, the author evokes the frustrations and passion of Florian and Ellie and also those of the residents of the small Irish town.

William Trevor’s novel “Felicia’s Journey” is the story of an Irish woman who is on a ferry to England looking for the father of her unborn kid.

She thinks he may be employed at a lawnmower factory somewhere in the Midlands. According to other rumors, he could be employed in the British military which among her Irish family is a huge travesty.

Her great-grandmother had lost a husband and son in The Troubles and as such is very anti-English. If her boyfriend is found to actually be working for the British military, their romance could be well and truly over according to her family.
With her mother dead she is beholden to her great-grandmother, her two brothers, and her brother who hate the English.

In England, locating her boyfriend is no easy task and it is not long before she runs out of the little money she had. She resorts to living on the streets and joins up with a religious cult that provides her with the shelter she desperately needs.
Ultimately, she meets an unmarried man in his fifties who wants to help her. They are soon spending a lot of time together as he drives her around trying to find the father of her kid.