The Blackwater Lightship

Description

It is Ireland in the early 1990s. Three women, Dora Devereux, her daughter Lily and her grand-daughter Helen, have arrived, after years of strife, at an uneasy peace with each other. They know that in the years ahead it will be necessary for them to keep their distance. Now, however, Declan, Helen's adored brother, is dying and the three of them come together in the grandmother's crumbling old house with two of Declan's friends. All six of them, from different generations and with different beliefs, are forced to listen to, and come to terms with each other.The Blackwater Lightship is a novel about morals and manners, about culture clashes and clashes of personalities, but it is also a novel full of stories, as the characters give an account of themselves, and the others listen, awe struck or deeply amused at things they have never heard before.

Colm Toibin was born in Ireland in 1955, and lives in Dublin. He is the author of four novels, including the 1999 Booker nominated The Blackwater Lightship. His non-fiction includes Bad Blood, Homage to Barcelona, The Sign of the Cross, and, most recently, Love in a Dark Time.

This is the most astonishing piece of writing, lyrical in its emotion and spare in its construction . . . Toibin has crafted an unmissable read. * Sunday Herald * This is the most astonishing piece of writing, lyrical in its emotion and spare in its construction . . . Toibin has crafted an unmissable read. * Sunday Herald * It is in his emotional choreography that Toibin shows himself to be an exceptional writer. Helen is estranged from both her mother and grandmother . . . Toibin helps them make peace - and he does it beautifully. * Sunday Telegraph * He writes in spare, powerful prose and he is truly perceptive about family relationships which, at times, makes reading his stories incredibly painful. But this is a beautiful novel. * Belfast News * We shall be reading and living with The Blackwater Lightship in twenty years. * Independent on Sunday *