The days are growing longer, and bookshelves are in bloom
Old God’s Time
by Sebastian Barry, out on March 2
(Faber & Faber, £18.99)
Every new novel by Sebastian Barry creates a ripple of happy excitement, in this house at least. The County Wicklow resident and twice-Booker-nominated writer (but don’t let that put you off ) is beloved by his many devotees (including Ali Smith and Tessa Hadley) for his lyrical style, generous spirit and a knack for imaginative storytelling many of his peers would give their eye teeth for.
Tom is a grieving retired policeman rudely interrupted from his old-age hermitage on the Irish coast by an upturned cold case. The revelations are enthralling, the sentences divine, the south coast dialogue entirely convincing. But best of all are the passages when Tom indulges old memories of love, deeply felt and so
