Old God's Time

<b>Sebastian Barry</b> was born in Dublin in 1955. The 2018-21 Laureate for Irish Fiction his novels have twice won the Costa Book of the Year award the Independent Booksellers Award and the Walter Scott Prize. He had two consecutive novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize <i>A Long Long Way</i> (2005) and the top ten bestseller <i>The Secret Scripture </i>(2008) and has also won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Prize the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lives in County Wicklow. <b>From the <i>Sunday Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Days Without End</i> and <i>The Secret Scripture</i> </b><b>and one of our most soulful living writers </b><b><i>Old God's Time</i> is an</b><b> extraordinary novel about memory love mystery and reckoning.</b> A wonderful brutal utterly compelling book ... Barry is the most miraculous writer. This book still stays with me. I think about it now and it affects me. It's a beautiful important book. 'There is a kind of writing so rare and accomplished that it seems to erase the very nuts and bolts of its own construction. Reading it can produce an experience that feels close to miraculous ... I don't expect to read anything as moving for many years.' There are moments in <i>Old God's Time</i> that will take your breath away ... [Barry] has crafted a meditative mournful masterpiece with the pace of a whodunnit. 'A profound important book. . . gorgeously crafted: rich serpentine deceptive original expansive moving . Dark novels sometimes burn brightest; <i>Old God's Time</i> harrowing and spectacular burns brighter than most.' 'Rare indeed are those novels worth cherishing and keeping close. Sebastian Barry's Old God's Time is one of them.' 'In practically all of his works [Barry] turns human frailty into an art form. . . The story weaves with supreme artistry back and forth over Tom's life. . . a masterpiece.' 'An extraordinary piece of work; to borrow a word that recurs in its pages it is stupendous in the sense that it shocks and astonishes.' 'What distinguishes Barry's work is his exquisite use of language. . . Grief is threaded through this story but alongside it is stitched great strength and endurance. As Tom's story reaches a conclusion and the horrors recede like the lights of the pier behind him it is the love at the heart of the novel that remains.' One of Sebastian Barry's extraordinary gifts as a writer is his boundless capacity for empathy. 'Nobody writes like nobody takes risks like nobody pushes the language and the heart and the two together quite like Sebastian Barry does.' 'A book of aching and sorrow written with an ear to the poetry of common words from the master of the form. I didn't want it to end I very much wanted it to end. I was worried and exhilarated in equal measure. In short I loved it.' 'Few can write like Sebastian Barry there is a real thrill as each sentence unfolds. <i>Old God's Time</i> is a portrait of a good man facing the failings of his past. It is wonderfully alive because Barry is so attuned to the human condition to the poetry in ordinary lives. Full of love and grief and heartache this is an unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.' His work reminds us how much we need these rare gifts of the natural storyteller. Barry is the laureate of empathy. <b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2024 </b><b></b><br><b>LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023</b><br><b>THE <i>SUNDAY TIMES</i> TOP TEN BESTSELLER</b><br><b>TWICE WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br><b>A <i>FINANCIAL TIMES TIMES</i> AND <i>IRISH TIMES</i> BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br><b></b><br><b>'A masterpiece' </b><i>Sunday Times</i><br><b>'Stunning' </b>LIZ NUGENT<br><b>'Extraordinary'</b><i> Irish Times</i><br><br>Tom Kettle a retired policeman and widower is settling into the quiet of his new home in Dalkey overlooking the sea. <br><br>His solitude is interrupted when two former colleagues turn up at his door to ask about a traumatic decades-old case. A case that Tom never quite came to terms with. And his peace is further disturbed when his new neighbour a mysterious young mother asks for his help.<br><br>A beautiful haunting novel in which nothing is quite as it seems <i>Old God's Time</i> is an unforgettable exploration of family loss and love.<br><br><b>'A wonderful brutal utterly compelling book . . . Barry is the most miraculous writer.' Russell T Davies </b><br><b>'To borrow a word that recurs in its pages it is stupendous in the sense that it shocks and astonishes.' <i>Irish Times</i></b><br><b>Rare indeed are those novels worth cherishing and keeping close. <i>Old God's Time </i>is one of them.' <i>Daily</i> <i>Telegraph</i></b><br><b>'So captivating . . . it will live long in the minds of its readers.' <i>Independent</i></b><br><b></b><br><b><u>WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:</u></b><br><b><u></u>***** 'A beautiful family love story. It will haunt you and break your heart.'</b><br><b>***** 'Deeply felt and so moving. I will be reading this again.'</b><br><b>***** 'A tragic tale beautifully told. Sebastian Barry is one of the great contemporary writers.'</b><br><b>***** 'Absolute perfection in novel form.'</b><br><b>***** 'Deeply tragic. Deeply humorous. Utterly beautiful. I'm in awe.'</b><br><b>***** 'A writer in possession of something divine . just exceptional.'</b><br><b>***** 'Magically transporting . the balance of extreme grief and joy are perfectly expressed.'</b>