Old Gods Time, Sebastian Barry
Old Gods Time, Sebastian Barry
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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Old God's Time

Author: Sebastian Barry

Narrator: Stephen Hogan

Unabridged: 8 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/21/2023

Synopsis

From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author, a dazzlingly written novel exploring memory, grief, and long-buried secretsRetired policeman Tom Kettle is enjoying the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a white Victorian Castle in Dalkey overlooking the sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, but his peace is interrupted when two former colleagues turn up at his door to ask questions about a decades-old case. A traumatic case which Tom never quite came to terms with.His peace is further disturbed by a young mother and family who move in next door, a woman on the run from her own troubles. And what of Tom’s family, his wife June, and their two children?Old God’s Time is a beautiful, haunting novel in which everything is not quite what it seems—a novel about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive us.

About Sebastian Barry

Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. He is the author of eight previous novels, as well as numerous plays. He is the first novelist to twice win the Costa Book of the Year award, for Days Without End and The Secret Scripture. He has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, for A Long Long Way and The Secret Scripture, and has twice been longlisted for the Booker Prize, for Days Without End and On Canaan’s Side. He was the laureate for Irish fiction from 2018 to 2021, and lives in County Wicklow, Ireland.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Meredith (Trying to catch up!) on December 29, 2022

Haunting 4.5 stars “Nothing was what it was made out to be. The truth included.” Tom Kettle, a retired policeman, is startled out of his retirement reverie of a secluded life by the Irish sea when former colleagues approach him about a case involving a murdered priest. Stirring memories long tamped d......more

Goodreads review by Ceecee on October 18, 2022

I don’t suppose I’m alone in thinking the Irish have a way with words, that many are gifted storytellers and Sebastian Barry is firmly in that category. This is retired detective Tom Kettle’s story. He lives in an annex attached to a castle in Dalkey that has uninterrupted views of the sea. One eveni......more

Goodreads review by Vit on June 01, 2023

The main character is a retired police detective wishing to rest living by the sea… But his retirement is restless… All his working life he had dealt with villains. After a few decades of that your faith in human nature is in the ground. It’s a premature burial, pre-dating your own. But he wanted to......more

Goodreads review by Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer on March 26, 2024

Shortlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Prize #9 in my Booker Prize longlist rankings after reading all the longlist books twice. My Instagram post on what worked for me, what did not, my favourite quote and of course a book-themed Golden Retriever photo here: [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Meike on April 10, 2024

Now Shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award 2024 Nominated for the Booker Prize 2023 Barry is just a master of empathetic, intense prose that illuminates the movements of human consciousness - but this is also a moral investigation into the crimes of the Catholic church in Ireland, and how the conse......more

Quotes

“An attentive character study, an engrossing crime story, and an unsparing lament for Ireland itself.” Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Stephan Hogan is the ideal interpreter of Sebastian Barry’s thoughtful, multilayered novel. His clear, soft Irish accent pulls listeners in…He handles shifts in perspective and reality with an ease that reduces confusion…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“[A] sublime study of love, trauma, memory, and loss…The ending is a tour de force of transcendent power and complexity.” The Guardian (London)

“A meditative, mournful masterpiece, with the pace of a whodunnit.” Sunday Times (London)

“Combining verbal exuberance and narrative intricacy, Barry reimagines the hauntings of Irish history.” New Yorker

“Barry has always had a gift for creating memorable characters, and Tom is one of his most fascinating ones.” NPR

“[A] masterful mystery from Ireland’s Thomas Hardy.”  The Telegraph (London)

“A beautifully told, piercingly sad story.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Narrator Stephen Hogan portrays Kettle as an older man exhausted by his responsibilities and memories, even when those memories are slippery and misleading….Perfect for readers of Dervla McTiernan and Donal Ryan.” Library Journal (audio review)

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
  • Booker Prize
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