Reader Score
82%
82% of readers
recommend this book
"The writing in this book is lyrical . . . a beautiful book that you will love." -Good Morning America's #1 Favorite Book of the Year
"I am utterly obsessed with Niall Williams." -Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake
"Made me laugh out loud and remember how to love." -Margaret Renkl, The New York Times
From the author of This Is Happiness, a compassionate, life-affirming novel about the Christmas season that transforms the small Irish town of Faha.
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love - and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.
But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.
Set over the course of one December in the same village as Williams' beloved This Is Happiness, Time of the Child is a tender return to Faha for readers who know its charms, and a heartwarming welcome to new readers entering for the very first time.
Margaret Renkl is a New York Times contributing Op-Ed writer.
I wish I could adequately describe the beauty of the storytelling in Time of the Child... The characters are so fully alive and so fully human that I missed them whenever I put the book down, and I still miss them now. They made me laugh out loud, and they made me weep...
"Dazzles as both Christmas tale and erudite novel ... The author’s affection for his characters buoys each chapter ... Williams packs his paragraphs with lush imagery and piercing psychological insight. Line by line, it may be the most beautifully written novel I’ve read this year."
"In this poignant novel, miracles abound... An engrossing read, the dark and the rain and the shabby but hopeful holiday decorations blending with the peat smoke and the love, all coming fully alive on the page. And that is something of a miracle itself."