Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry

‘Exhausted youth is different from exhausted age. It can be repaired.’

Tom Kettle is a retired policeman, living alone by the Irish Sea in Dalkey, south of Dublin. His days are full of memories of his wife June, and their children Joseph and Winnie, all now dead, together with his observations of those who are his neighbours. Tom finds some comfort in the solitude and beauty of his surroundings. And then, one day, he is visited by two policemen who hope that he can help them. They are reopening a case Tom worked on some thirty years earlier, in the 1960s.

‘There were many terrible stories in the world, and he had heard most of them.’

This visit and what follows takes Tom into the past, into uncomfortable memories of abuse perpetrated on children, on him and his wife as children by priests, and this impact of that abuse. Tom is surrounded by memories. The good memories he has of June and their children, the bad memories occasioned by the wretched distress of abuse, of powerlessness. Can good memories balance the bad? Is it ever possible for the adult to escape the fetters abuse places on a child? Tom is comforted by his love for June, but he cannot forget or ignore the impact of the abuse she suffered.

Revisiting the case takes Tom back into his life both in the army and as a detective. His memories, shared with the reader, are not chronological and may not always be accurate. I found myself reading slowly, turning back pages trying to follow Tom’s thoughts. Stream of consciousness does not always work for me but in this case, it served to highlight Tom’s story, to amplify the paralysing widespread effect of abuse.

I finished reading this novel some time ago and am still thinking about aspects of it. In the hands of a lesser writer, it would not have had the same impact. This is a sad story dealing with uncomfortable issues. A harrowing but recommended read.

‘His story was told and he had told it to no one.’

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith