Books
by Niall Williams
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As it is in Heaven |
Set mainly in Ireland and partly in Venice, this is the story of a not very good history teacher in Co. Clare who lost his mother and sister in a car crash when he was a child. He and his father, a Dublin tailor, spend many sad years together, playing chess and listening to music. Then he goes to a concert where he meets Gabriella, an Italian violinist and his life takes off.
(Wendy Swann - bwl 4 July 2000) |
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Boy in the World |
Standing at the altar waiting to be confirmed The Boy stares at the bishop, says No, and runs from the church in his small Irish village. Having that day discovered his father whom he never knew is not dead after all, he sets out to find him. Thus begins a journey across a Europe in the grip of terrorist attacks, the journey a metaphor for his passage from boyhood to maturity, questioning everything and finding his way through each experience and encounter.
(Sue Pratt - bwl 111 Winter 2024) |
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Four Letters of Love |
Nicholas and Isabel's lives evolve far apart - star-crossed lovers destined never to meet? Wait and see. This is a most engaging novel, hiding some interesting philosophical thoughts about destiny behind a teasing, nail-biting story. There is a bit too much magical whimsy for my tastes but Williams manages to carry it off. Yet another piece of lyrical, imaginative writing by an Irish author and highly enjoyable.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 68 Spring 2013) |
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History of the Rain |
We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive those who only live now in the telling . . . so writes Ruth, bed-bound, in her attic room in rain-sodden County Clare as she struggles to find her roots, her poet-father, her lost twin-brother . . . and in the background, always constant, is the river, the salmon running through it and the curse of the family's Impossible Standard. Funny, heart-wrenching, Irish writing at it's most sublime.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 79 Winter 2016) |
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Only Say the Word |
This is the story of a boy growing up in County Clare who travels to America and returns to Ireland with a wife. But the heart of the book is about negotiating life, love, grief, loss and hope. The characters are vivid, the sense of time and place real and Williams’ writing is always beautiful, his Irish voice shining through, but for me I found this book too downbeat, sombre and dark. A personal view maybe.
(Sue Pratt - bwl 112 Spring 2024) |
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The Fall of Light |
Mid-nineteenth C. rural Ireland, Francis Foley, quick to anger, and his four sons flee the aftermath of his rage which cost them their mother. Each follows his own path as they search for a land they can call their own. We follow their separate fortunes until finally a series of encounters and coincidences lead to a kind of reunion and redemption for him. Another gem from Williams yet another Irish author who writes like an angel.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 111 Winter 2024) |
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This is Happiness |
Under the guise of how electricity comes to a small village in Ireland during the 1950s, Williams combines a heart wrenching story of guilt and regret, a poignant coming of age story and hilarious anecdotes about the villagers and everyday life. Steeped in nostalgia, his prose is sublime and his characters unforgettable. If you want to be instantly transported out of present worrying times, this is the book to do it!
(Denise Lewis - bwl 96 Spring 2020) |
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