An exquisite winter tale of courage - and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.

'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut

'Masterly.' The Times

'Miraculous.' Herald

'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin

'Stunning.' Sunday Independent

'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart

A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times

'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times

'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel

'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson

'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph

'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer

'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss

Details

ISBN13: 9780571368709
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 128
Edition: Main
Publication Date: 3 Nov 2022
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 19.8(H) x 12.9(L) x0.9(W)149
Weight (gm): 149

Author Biography

Claire Keegan was brought up on a farm in Ireland. Her stories have won numerous awards and are translated into more than 20 languages. Foster was named by The Times as one of the top 50 novels to be published in the 21st Century. Keegan is now holding the Briena Staunton Fellowship at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Reviews