Old God's Time: A Novel
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
Named a Best Book of 2023 by the New Yorker, Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews
“You should be reading Sebastian Barry. [He] has a special understanding of the human heart.” —The Atlantic
“A prose stylist of near-miraculous skill. . . Barry reaches deep into the messenger bag of mystery fiction and turns the whole business inside out . . . marvelous.” —The Washington Post
“An unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.” —Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
From the five-time Booker Prize nominee and 2018-2021 Laureate for Irish Fiction, a virtuosic, profound novel exploring love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets
Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return of his family: his beloved wife June and their two children, Winnie and Joe. But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.
A beautiful, haunting novel in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.
Named a Best Book of 2023 by the New Yorker, Washington Post, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews
“You should be reading Sebastian Barry. [He] has a special understanding of the human heart.” —The Atlantic
“A prose stylist of near-miraculous skill. . . Barry reaches deep into the messenger bag of mystery fiction and turns the whole business inside out . . . marvelous.” —The Washington Post
“An unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.” —Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain
From the five-time Booker Prize nominee and 2018-2021 Laureate for Irish Fiction, a virtuosic, profound novel exploring love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets
Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return of his family: his beloved wife June and their two children, Winnie and Joe. But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.
A beautiful, haunting novel in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.
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Community Reviews
No one minds life as long as they are not trying to leave it. Nor death, as long as they are not dying.
A retired detective grapples with grief at the loss of his wife and children while coming to terms with his own aging and mortality.
Another book where I felt like the prose (which is absolutely stunning) overpowered the plot. I'm a plot- or character-driven girlie, so I found myself lost in the words and missing the story.
But it's a beautiful book.
It was very difficult to follow the actual narrative with so many long, tangentially related rambles.
Skimmed a lot, then slowed down to where it talked about his family. Unveils the truth slowly. Retired Irish cop, living alone, wife is dead, Has a daughter and a son that you eventually learn where they are. The wife was molested by priests, and pretty much everyone in the book was. 
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