Three generations of women arrive at an uneasy peace after years of strife, in Colm Tóibín’s resonant and complex family drama.

Set in modern day Ireland, The Blackwater Lightship tells the tale of Dora Devereaux, her daughter Lily and grand-daughter Helen. Declan, Helen’s adored brother, is dying. Brought together in the grand-mother’s crumbling old house with two of Declan’s friends, the characters are forced to listen to each other’s stories - funny, shocking and sad – as they come to an acceptance of each other across generational boundaries.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1999
Published by
Picador
Publication date

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Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín

About the Author

Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet. He was born in County Wexford, Ireland.
More about Colm Tóibín

Other nominated books by Colm Tóibín

The Testament of Mary
Brooklyn
The Master