The Fall of Light

This story begins in Ireland, in the bleak years of the mid-nineteenth century. The men of the Foley family have lost their home and suffered another loss which proves even more vital – beautiful Emer Foley, wife of Francis, mother to the four boys. With nothing to hold them they move on, setting out across Ireland to its Western shore, searching for the untenanted land that is to be their new Eden. But Francis Foley is a bitter man, and his harsh, proud soul can only bring destruction. Inevitably the five Foleys are scattered, each to his own road.Niall Williams leads the reader along on their great journeys, through the bittersweet heart of rural Ireland and far beyond its shores. He wrings beauty out of desolation and joy alike, guiding his characters through fire and water, earth and sky, magic and reality, loss and consolation, until finally they come to terms with their own freedom and dreams. Niall Williams was born in 1958 and lives in Kiltumper with his wife Christine and their two children. His previous novels, Four Letters of Love (1997) and As it is in Heaven (1999), were both published to critical acclaim and became international bestsellers.