by Audrey Magee
Rating: 4.50 (1 ratings)
First published 2023
Mr. Lloyd arrives on a small island off Ireland's west coast in summer 1979, seeking the peace he needs to paint. The English artist doesn't know that Jean-Pierre Masson has followed close behind. The Frenchman has visited this island for years, studying the inhabitants' language and fiercely protecting their isolation. He considers this work vital for his theories on language preservation and identity. Masson resents the English painter's presence. Both men have come to capture this place's truth at any cost. Lloyd wants to freeze it in his paintings while Masson hopes to preserve the language itself. But the islanders have their own ideas about what matters to them. Great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn and fifteen-year-old James, who shows remarkable artistic talent, resist being subjects for either man's project. Meanwhile, IRA violence tears through Ireland during the Troubles. The collision between these outsiders and the community they claim to serve reveals the gap between academic theories and lived experience.
Genres: art, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Ireland, West Coast
Period: 1979, The Troubles
256 pages · Paperback · Faber & Faber
Content warnings: colonialism