Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

Deirdre Madden

Time Present and Time Past

Cover: Time Present and Time Past - Deirdre Madden

Deirdre Madden

Time Present and Time Past

2014, pp. 196, Paperback
ISBN: 9781609452070
Region: Britain
Available as ebook Available as ebook Available as ebook
$ 16.00
READ NOW READ NOW READ NOW

The book

This thoughtful and beautifully crafted novel centers on a single extended family living in contemporary Dublin. Fintan Buckley (“a strong contender for the title of Most Unimaginative Man In Ireland”) is rather large around the middle, possessing an average job as a legal advisor and troublesome relationships with his mother, sister, wife, and children. As the novel progresses, he starts experiencing strange lapses of consciousness, during which he loses track of time and is overcome by auditory hallucinations. These inexplicable instances allow Fintan to ponder the nature of time and memory, spurred by a newfound fascination for early photography and prompting a reconciliation with estranged family in Northern Ireland. Well versed in the art of understatement, Madden carefully probes the quiet moments around the dinner table and in the café in which relationships falter, crystallize, or crumble away. Emotionally resonant yet starkly unsentimental, this beguiling novel—drawing its title from the famous lines in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets—is rich in imagery and clear-eyed prose, while its preoccupation with the already known and deeply unknowable is evocative and confidently rendered.

The author

Deirdre Madden
Deirdre Madden was born in Ireland in 1960 and studied at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of East Anglia. She is the author of nine novels, including The Birds of Innocent Wood, which won the Somerset Maugham Prize, as well as One by One in the Darkness and Molly Fox’s Birthday, both of which were shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She teaches creative writing at Trinity College Dublin.

Press

From the same country

  • Cover: My Father’s House - Joseph O’Connor

    Joseph O’Connor

    My Father’s House

    2024, pp. 368, $ 18.95
    From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Star of the Sea and winner of the 2021 Irish Book Awards Book of the Year for Shadowplay, comes...
  • Cover: I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning - Keiran Goddard

    Keiran Goddard

    I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

    2024, pp. 208, $ 27.00
    Told from the alternating perspectives of five friends who grew up together on the same council estate, I See Buildings Fall like Lightning...
  • Cover: The Fair Folk - Su Bristow

    Su Bristow

    The Fair Folk

    2024, pp. 400, $ 18.00
    From prize-winning author Su Bristow comes a fascinating coming-of-age novel about magic and the choices that define future generations.
  • Cover: Bournville - Jonathan Coe

    Jonathan Coe

    Bournville

    2023, pp. 400, $ 28.00
    A tender and wickedly funny portrait of England told through four generations of one family.
  • Cover: Mr. Wilder and Me - Jonathan Coe

    Jonathan Coe

    Mr. Wilder and Me

    2023, pp. 256, $ 16.95
    A New York Times Editors’ Choice FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE ROTTERS’ CLUB AND MIDDLE ENGLAND...
  • Cover: Hourglass - Keiran Goddard

    Keiran Goddard

    Hourglass

    2023, pp. 208, $ 25.00
    A short, lyrical debut novel about love, loss, work, time, and the unquenchable desire for connection with others—for fans of Jenny Offill, Mieko...

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X