The Colony Synopsis
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
"Luminous." --Jonathan Myerson, The Guardian"Vivid, thought-provoking." --Malcolm Forbes, Star Tribune In 1979, as violence erupts all over Ireland, two outsiders travel to a small island off the west coast in search of their own answers, despite what it may cost the islanders. It is the summer of 1979. An English painter travels to a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Mr. Lloyd takes the last leg by currach, though boats with engines are available and he doesn't much like the sea. He wants the authentic experience, to be changed by this place, to let its quiet and light fill him, give him room to create. He doesn't know that a Frenchman follows close behind. Jean-Pierre Masson has visited the island for many years, studying the language of those who make it their home. He is fiercely protective of their isolation, deems it essential to exploring his theories of language preservation and identity.
But the people who live on this rock--three miles long and half a mile wide--have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken, and what ought to be given in return. Over the summer, each of them--from great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn, to widowed Mairéad, to fifteen-year-old James, who is determined to avoid the life of a fisherman--will wrestle with their values and desires. Meanwhile, all over Ireland, violence is erupting. And there is blame enough to go around.
An expertly woven portrait of character and place, a stirring investigation into yearning to find one's way, and an unflinchingly political critique of the long, seething cost of imperialism, Audrey Magee's
The Colony is a novel that transports, that celebrates beauty and connection, and that reckons with the inevitable ruptures of independence.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781250867216 |
| Publication date: |
13th June 2023 |
| Author: |
Audrey Magee |
| Publisher: |
Picador USA |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
384 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Family Drama
|
| Other Genres: |
|
Audrey Magee Press Reviews
'I've always believed that good fiction can go to the beating heart of human reality in ways more likely to resonate with a reader than any textbook. A good novel strengthens empathy as well as the imagination and encourages us to see another world from a perspective that travels beyond our own interests. And this novel is better than good. Its beautifully realised lament for lost language and cultural sustainability has universal relevance.' - Canberra Times
'Intelligent and provocative . . . What a relief it is to find a novel that treats the reader as a grown-up, that is fresh without chasing literary fashion, provocative but not shouty, and idiosyncratic but fully satisfying from the strange comedy of its opening pages to its decisive conclusion . . . The Colony contains multitudes - on families, on men and women, on rural communities - with much of it just visible on the surface, like the flicker of a smile or a shark in the water.' - The Times
'Austere and stark . . . a story about language and identity, about art, oppression, freedom and colonialism. The Colony is a novel about big, important things.' - Financial Times
'A vivid and memorable book about art, land and language, love and sex, youth and age. Big ideas tread lightly through Audrey Magee's strong prose.' - SARAH MOSS
'The Colony: so brilliant in its quiet tragedy, so revealing in its precision. It haunts me.' - TSITSI DANGAREMBGA
'A careful interrogation, The Colony expertly explores the mutability of language and art, the triumphs and failures inherent to the process of creation and preservation.' - RAVEN LEILANI
'The Colony is brimming with ideas about identity and soul; a canny, challenging, and never less than engrossing read.' - LISA MCINERNEY
'The Colony is a brilliant and thoughtfully calibrated commentary about the nature and balance of power. There is violence here, but, most impressively, Audrey Magee captures that more insidious cruelty-the kind masked as protection, as manners.' - MARY BETH KEANE
'Audrey Magee has written a lyrical, rich, and emotionally powerful novel. The Colony comes alive like a brooding and beautiful canvas painted off the Irish coast.' - DOMINIC SMITH
About Audrey Magee
Audrey Magee worked for twelve years as a journalist and has written for, among others, The Times, The Irish Times and the Guardian. She has a Masters degree in journalism from Dublin City University and an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in German and French from University College Dublin. She lives in Wicklow with her husband and three daughters. The Undertaking is her first novel.
Author photo © Patrick Redmond
More About Audrey Magee
.jpg)
