The narrow land - Christine Dwyer Hickey

WINNER OF THE WALTER SCOTT HISTORICAL PRIZE FOR FICTION, 2020WINNER OF THE DALKEY LITERARY AWARD FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR, 2020SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS, 2019An Irish Independent and Irish Times Book of the Year, 2019From the author of Tatty, the Dublin: One City One Book 2020 choice________________________'It is a long time since I have read such a fine novel or one that I have enjoyed quite so much.' Irish Times1950: late summer season on Cape Cod. Michael, a ten-year-old boy, is spending the summer with Richie and his glamorous but troubled mother. Left to their own devices, the boys meet a couple living nearby - the artists Jo and Edward Hopper - and an unlikely friendship is forged.She, volatile, passionate and often irrational, suffers bouts of obsessive sexual jealousy. He, withdrawn and unwell, depressed by his inability to work, becomes besotted by Richie's frail and beautiful Aunt Katherine who has not long to live - an infatuation he shares with young Michael.A novel of loneliness and regret, the legacy of World War II and the ever-changing concept of the American Dream.'A brilliant portrait... With a beguiling grace and a deceptive simplicity, Christine Dwyer Hickey reminds us that the past is never far away - rather, it constantly surrounds us, suspends us, haunts us.' Colum McCann

Christine Dwyer Hickey is an award winning novelist and short story writer. Her novel The Cold Eye of Heavenwon the Irish Novel of the Year of the Year 2012, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2011 and nominated for the IMPAC 2013 award. Last Train from Liguria was shortlisted for the Prix L'Europen de Littrature andTatty was chosen as one of the 50 Irish Books of the Decade as well as being nominated for The Orange Prize and shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards novel of the year 2004. Her first novel The Dancer was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year.
She has won several short story awards and her first collection The House on Parkgate Street and other Dublin stories was published in 2013. Her first play, Snow Angels premiered at the Project Theatre Dublin in 2014 and the text of same is published in March 2015 (New Island Books). The Lives of Women is her seventh novel. She is a member of Aosdana.

I loved this book. Christine Dwyer Hickey writes such beautifully poised prose. Flawed lives played out in a postcard perfect setting.
Graham Norton

With a beguiling grace and a deceptive simplicity, Christine Dwyer Hickey reminds us that the past is never far away - rather, it constantly surrounds us, suspends us, haunts us. This is a brilliant portrait of America as we journey with Edward Hopper and his marvellously eccentric wife, Josephine Nivison, through the years shortly after the Second World War. Two young boys, one German, one American, negotiate the ongoing perils of loss, while Hopper's wife poses searing questions, and Hopper himself attempts answers on canvas. The world, as so powerfully evoked by Christine Dwyer Hickey, is bridged by small acts of mercy and hope.
Colum McCann

Everything about the writing is so carefully balanced - thought and action, feeling and movement, drama and suspense. She leaves space on the page, giving her characters the freedom to behave unexpectedly and to occupy the mind of the reader even when they are offstage. It is a long time since I have read such a fine novel or one that I have enjoyed quite so much.
Irish Times

Tender
The Times Literary Supplement

Christine Dwyer Hickey's breathtakingly beautiful novel The Narrow Land is about the marriage of Edward Hopper and his wife, Josephine, but builds into a meditation on all marriages and on creativity, in sentences that have the poise and beauty of a great picture.
The Times

The novel is set up like an artwork itself, with broad brushstrokes and fine lines, layer upon layer, scene upon scene...This is no plot-driven page-turner, rather a slow, ethereal thing, where you stop after each paragraph and let the achingly beautiful words resonate. You feel the weight of history but with a lightness of touch.
Irish Independent

Hickey's writing is gorgeously lyrical, whether describing the beauty of the Massachusetts landscape or the often painful life of the creative soul...like an American version of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day. It's beguiling and compelling.
Sunday Business Post

[Christine Dwyer-Hickey] is nuanced and exceptional at character and voice.
Sinad Gleeson, Twitter

A wonderful read - thought provoking and compelling - and, to my mind, Christine's best to date.
Irish Examiner, praise for The Lives of Women

A big, bold, remarkably assured narrative... A powerfully accomplished work of art.
Joseph O'Connor, Guardian, praise for Last Train to Liguria

Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Independent on Sunday, praise for Last Train to Liguria

Stunning... Extraordinary.
Independent on Sunday, praise for Cold Eye of Heaven

A beautifully written novel... that confirms Hickey's status as a major talent.
Mail on Sunday, praise for Last Train to Liguria

[Christine Dwyer Hickey's] writing shows a deep understanding of human weakness, longing and regret.
Laois Today