Nora Webster

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the 2015 Folio Prize

Read by actress Niamh Cusack

1960s Ireland. Nora Webster, a widow from a small town, is trying to piece her life back together while caring for her four children after the death of her husband. In a close community where everyone knows your business, Nora is trying to emerge from her own sorrow in private whilst blind to the suffering of her young sons. And yet there are moments when hope might emerge again. Through music and friendship she might find a path to reinvention.

In Colm Tóibín's classic novel, the author has created one of the most unforgettable protagonists in modern literature.

A fine companion piece to his acclaimed novel, Brooklyn . . . Mixing irony and nostalgia in its portrayal of a provincial Irish town. Subtle and enthralling - Sunday Times, Books of the Year

Tóibín's measured prose and close attention to emotional nuance is shown at its best here - Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year

This is his best yet. The ache of a widow's grief is rendered with such an unadorned intensity that you might not think the book could be entertaining too, but it is - Spectator, Books of the Year

A clear-sighted yet sympathetic portrait of a woman destabilised by grief - Financial Times, Books of the Year