The News from Dublin

In The News from Dublin, a beautiful collection of short stories from the bestselling author of Brooklyn and Long Island, Colm Tóibín delves into the days and nights of those living far from home: lives of great longing, at a great distance from past lives and past selves.

A woman in Galway hears of the death of her son in the First World War. An Irishman seeks anonymity in Barcelona, haunted by crimes he has committed. A man goes to Dublin from Enniscorthy to implore the Minister for Health for a special favour. A young woman is pregnant during the Spanish Civil War. An undocumented worker finds himself living an illegal life and must leave San Francisco, and his child, after thirty years in America. Three sisters who have been living in Argentina decide to return to Catalonia.

Review

Readers who have enjoyed Tóibín’s novels will find much to admire in this collection, especially in those stories that are rooted in these imagined and half-submerged pasts. It’s the drama of what isn’t said, what doesn’t occur – but what might ― The Telegraph

After this, I’m going to have to read every damn thing he’s ever writ­ten. He really is that good ― The Oldie

Lives lived far from home unfold with Tóibín’s trademark spare, piercing prose. As in his bestsellers such as Brooklyn and Long Island, this collection traces longing, exile and the ache of unfinished lives ― The i

Grief, betrayal and moral complications are explored across nine tales of quiet power that take us from Argentina to County Wexford ― Guardian

I loved them for the exquisite writing, and for the skillful structure; I loved the insights and open endings - you get the sense that Colm Tóibín totally trusts you as a reader rather than spoon feeding you the details ― The Irish Examiner

The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín ― short stories to astonish and delight. Nine masterful tales chart unbreakable family connections ― and complications ― from Ireland to South America and Spain ― Financial Times

A master of understated emotions ― Mail on Sunday

Colm Tóibín is a writer of extraordinary emotional clarity . . . Tóibín perfectly understands the instantaneous nature of the ideal short story; the sense that the pen is going straight into a major vein -- Kate Saunders ― Literary Review

Tóibín [is] a master of his art . . . exquisite ― Los Angeles Times

Tóibín has conducted an exhilarating masterclass in extract the maximum effect from the minimum of prose, with the leanest and cleanest narrative line . . . His gifts are so remarkable -- Robert McCrum ― Independent

About the Author

Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and its sequel Long Island, and The Magician, and three collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.