The Fall of Light

Understanding Ireland in the desperate years of the middle nineteenth century gives a better understanding of the Irish today and the immigrants who settled throughout our country. Through this deeply felt and achingly written portrait of impoverished life, the reader travels the broken land and immerses herself in the journey. I will reread this again and again.

I absolutely loved this book. To begin with, the writing is exquisite. Williams' prose is so gorgeous he could probably turn a trip to the drug store into a meaningful, heartrending story. The plot is interesting in itself, but takes secondary importance to the writing and the atmosphere: this isn't so much of a novel as a story in the old oral tradition, and was clearly written out of love for Ireland and Irish mythology. For days after I put this book down I was seeing beauty in the most ordinary things.

Although I admit it took me just a bit of time to get used to the author's style of sometimes convoluted sentence structure, I could hardly put this story down. After a fight with this wife, Francis Foley steals a telescope and leaves his Irish home with his four sons. The four sons are then scattered after they think their father has drowned while attempting to cross the Shannon River. The story of each son is remarkable in that each finds himself following a separate road yet never forgetting the others in the family. The father's search for the boys seems to provide a sense of magnetism which draws them all to seek each other. Each son has a different story and all are followed to one extent or another throughout the book. Although the story of Teige, the youngest son, takes most of the story, the life of Finbar who follows the gypsies is especially well told. The author takes the reader from Ireland across Europe and across the Atlantic to the wide west of America. The potato famine, immigration to America, and the exploration of the West all provide backgrounds for the telling of the Foley boys' stories. As I read this book, I couldn't help but think of my own ancestors as they traveled from Europe, some to the US and some to New Zealand. Although not Irish, I'm sure each family member left home with his or her own set of troubles and hopes. sometimes conscious decisions were made and other times they were just swept along by circumstances. The road has not been straight as so well described by the Foley family. Highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever wondered about how their own family has fit into the history of the time.

Niall Williams' novel is a joy. He has taken us back to a world, amazingly enough, in the not-so-distant past in Ireland. The episodic journey of the Foley clan does not come with a blazing climax, but is a replete telling of the tale of Francis Foley, his wife and four sons. Consistent with the Irish history of that period, all four sons leave Ireland, two to North America, one to Africa and one all about Europe, especially France. Francis' journey of discontent and pride washes him up on an island that becomes like a Celtic Eden of the heart, an asylum for lost hopes and dreams, a resting place for a Paradise lost. The stories of each of the sons is touching. Teige, the youngest, is the most closely followed; but each receives a special telling. Emer the wife and mother also weathers years of isolation before reunion with Francis and two of her sons. "The Fall of Light" is rich with Irish emotion, gypsy temperment, love, passion, and even the lure of the wild west. This is a tale that gathers you in its grasp, holds you in its grip until depositing you on the last page. Enjoy & savor!

When I saw this book at the aitport bookstore some weeks ago I knew it was a treasure I saw. Having read Niall Williams' two previous books this could be nothing less than a masterpiece.And I were right. The book took me from the first page, following Francis Foley and his four son's in their search for Emer, Francis' wife, and also their search for life.We follow the family to several continents, from Ireland to south Europe, to Africa and to America. But above all the book is a story about love. Eternal love. The love between two people, and the love inside a family.When we meet Francis and his four sons they have lost their home, but what is more fatal, they have lost the beautiful Emer, the wife of Francis, the mother of Tomas, Finbar, Finan and Teige. We follow all these people, through Ireland, through love and loss, through fatal incidents. Through a scattered life, where each has his own road, and his own future to walk.This is a book for laughter and tears, a book that captures you totally. A book to teach you about love, and how you spend your life. A book hard to put down, and a book that will live with you for a long time. A strong book, a marvellous book. And I can make Guardian's words mine - Williams really does write like an angel.