Old God’s Time

Cover image for Boundless as the Sky by Dawn Raffell

Books of Year 2023: Part One

I’m feeling quite pleased with myself having pared back this year’s list to twenty books, a first for me, although I’ll have to guard against more sneaking in as I look back over 2023. As usual, I’m planning four posts, one per quarter, beginning with a remarkable piece of writing which got my reading year

Books of Year 2023: Part One Read More »

My 2023 Booker Wish List

Not my favourite prize but I seem unable to resist putting together a wish list for the Booker, quite possibly because I know very few will be fulfilled but I’m keen to give some more neglected titles an airing even though they’re unlikely to have been nominated let alone make the judges’ grade. To be

My 2023 Booker Wish List Read More »

Cover image for Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry: ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard’

That subtitle isn’t a quote from Sebastian Barry’s new novel – as some of you may have spotted, it’s the opening line from Ford Maddox Ford’s The Good Soldier – but it’s the phrase that came into my head many times while reading it. Set in mid-1990s Ireland, Old God’s Time follows a recently retired

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry: ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard’ Read More »