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Book Summary and Reviews of Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Time of the Child by Niall Williams

Time of the Child

by Niall Williams

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  • Nov 2024, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Why did the doctor wait to attend to the priest at the beginning of the story when Father Tom was struggling to remember whose birthday the church was celebrating that December? Do you think it was the right thing to do—to wait? Do you understand his hesitancy?
  2. Why was the doctor unable to tell Annie Mooney about his feelings for her? What was it that stopped him from telling her how he felt while she was alive? Do you think she returned his feelings? Does it matter if she did or didn't?
  3. Many characters suffer from illness throughout the novel, from alcoholism to dementia to cancer. How do the different family members deal with their loved ones' pain?
  4. What does this passage mean to you? "Although invisible to...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"One need not have read the first installment to enjoy the second; reading them in the opposite order is just as good. Treat yourself to this." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"With its elegant plot, endearing characters and subtle humor, this is a lovely Christmas miracle of a book." —Library Journal (starred review)

"A Christmas miracle lies at the heart of this tender offering ... Williams works up to the miraculous event with steady pacing, breathing life into the characters and crafting a memorable sense of place. For those looking to get into the holiday spirit, this is just the ticket." ―Publishers Weekly

"A powerful pleasure to find myself back in Faha where the prose is luminous, the people irresistible, the stories mesmerizing, and it never stops raining." ―Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Booth

"With writing so stunning, Time of The Child forces the reader to turn down page after page to always remember what genius is. Another glorious and touching novel from Niall Williams, one of the world's greatest storytellers." ―Anne Griffin, internationally bestselling author of When All Is Said

This information about Time of the Child was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Niall Williams Author Biography

Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. He studied English and French literature at University College Dublin before graduating with a Master's degree in Modern American Literature. He moved to New York in 1980 where he married Christine Breen, whom he had met while she was a Master's student also at UCD, and took his first job opening boxes of books in Fox and Sutherland's bookshop in Mount Kisco. He later worked as a copywriter for Avon Books in New York City before leaving America with Chris in 1985 to attempt to make a life as a writer.

Niall and Christine moved on April 1st to the cottage in west Clare that Chris's grandfather had left eighty years before to find his life in America. In 1991 Niall's first play 'The Murphy Initiative' was staged at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. ...

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