Time Present, and Time Past

By Deirdre Madden

A quiet but emotionally resonant portrait of a middle-class family in pre-crash Ireland, Deirdre Madden’s latest novel is understated and gorgeously crafted. Madden touches upon abstract ideas in a clear and accessible way, letting her characters graze past one another even as they search for intimacy and closeness. In tightly controlled prose, this beguiling novel meditates on the passage of time and the futility of memory by dwelling on the actions and preoccupations of everyday people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781609452186

Deirdre Madden

Deirdre Madden teaches at Trinity College Dublin and is a member of the Irish arts academy Aosdána. She is the author of the novel Molly Fox's Birthday.

Reviews for Time Present, and Time Past

[m.belljackson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

On meeting Fintan, readers may feel quickly drawn into the increasing out-of-body experiences of this mildly panicking lawyer and his unaware family. We may recall times where the familiar morphs into something very, very strange, often from a dream, our own past, or even a fantasy far out of the present time and place.Insights such as "...to distract them with things they will immediately forget" alternate smoothly with the joys and trials of family living.Descriptions of both character and locale are pictured precisely, as Deirdre Madden deftly places us inside each home, each character and their interactions.Histories of both photography and Ireland are woven into Fintan's mental states and connections with the past history of his family.(The use of "gypped" feels oddly unevolved.)A rare vegetarian sensibility is smoothly handled, as is a brief nod to country girls.The Cookie with Smarties is thankfully not offered up as a Madeline.Just wish the ending was stronger...For the non-British: biscuit = cookie, jumper = sweater, and the always disconcerting, rug = blanket.

[froxgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hooray, I have found my next Jane Gardam (favorite author but elderly)! Irish author Deirdre Madden's books are atmospheric character studies. In this novel, it's five lives that appear to be little on the surface, but Madden is like a child quietly studying ants moving crumbs - the more patient she is, the more that is revealed. In this novel, Fintan has the loudest voice, though on the surface he is Everyman in Dublin during the good times that preceded the financial collapse of 2008. He's got a horrible mother - "Joan is one of those people who drain energy from those around them. She does it to such a degree that sometimes...Fintan feels like he is caught up in a science fiction story, and that his mother is an alien masquerading as an elderly Dublin woman, who siphons off energy to convert it into - what? Inert gases? An alternative fuel? Some kind of antimatter?"Happily, Fintan has a wonderful wife and three smart children, a brilliant sister and a kind aunt. And their stories spread and their points of view are shared until this small Dublin world becomes so completely inhabitable that the reader never wants to leave.

[bostonbibliophile · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My first reaction is, I loved this book and I feel like Madden deserves a lot more exposure in the US. It's about an ordinary family but it's anything but ordinary. The writing is lyrical, smooth and economical; the plot is pretty minimal and it really is about these people, so well-drawn that I feel like I could turn around and see them on the street. I really want to read her other books!