Good reads bring us into close encounters with remarkable characters – a metamorphosis takes place and we merge with that character, their lived experiences feeling as if they were our own. Nora Webster, the protagonist of Colm Tóibín’s latest masterwork, is one such unforgettable character destined to live beyond the page, eternally memorialised in the minds of readers.

Tóibín’s beautiful prose, skilful characterisation and reflective dialogue give form and shape to this impressive work. But the book’s power comes from the evocative and deeply intimate portrayal of Nora and the grief she suffers following the death of her husband, her greatest love. A mother of four, Nora must navigate her heartbreak while tending to the needs of her children, whose own suffering manifests in disturbing ways. Nora’s intuitive empathy as a mother casts a light on the shadows of this family’s sorrow. But fear is also her companion, and Nora must learn to mediate difficult relationships with extended family without her husband’s harmonising effect.

Place, too, is important in this story. Set in the close-knit community of Wexford, Ireland, where Tóibín himself grew up, the smothering experience of small-town politics is played out – it’s a place where everybody knows your business. Nora feels stifled by her community’s well-meaning yet intrusive enquiries into her wellbeing and struggles to know herself separate to others’ expectations of her. And yet it is the support of the community that gives her the strength to come into herself as never before.

The political unrest of Bloody Sunday, which saw civil rights protestors shot down by the British Army, forms a backdrop to this story and adds to the sense of emotional upheaval that accompanies destabilising life experiences.

Natalie Platten