Now nine months retired after forty years in the Gardai, Tom Kettle lives in the Annex Flat of Queenstown Castle on Dalkey Island. Old God’s Time is a stand-alone novel by award-winning Irish author, Sebastian Barry. Full of love and grief and heartache, this is an unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.' -Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie BainĪ beautifully written, intensely affecting read. It is wonderfully alive because Barry is so attuned to the human condition, to the poetry in ordinary lives. Old God's Time is a portrait of a good man facing the failings of his past. 'Few can write like Sebastian Barry, there is a real thrill as each sentence unfolds. The classic crime-story chestnut-a mothballed cop yanked back into action-becomes a parable of grief and theological anguish, a contemporary Irish answer to the book of Job.' - Booklist 'Barry masterfully explores the 'deep deep chaos' of Tom's perforated soul with poetry, poignancy, and a splash of indignant rage.

'The gorgeous writing and unreliable narration make it hard to put down this rewarding take on love and grief.' - Publishers Weekly This novel's words are well chosen, the sentences dazzle, and they all come together in a beautifully told, piercingly sad story.' - Library Journal (starred review) 'Admirers of Claire Keegan and Niall Williams will appreciate the Irish humor that masks deep sorrow.

An eloquent, affecting take on pedophilia.' - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ' complex quasi-mystery.Barry's tight focus on one retired lawman and the ghosts bedeviling him provides a compelling sense of the misery the Catholic Church knew it was causing and failed to salve.

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry