The Colony by Audrey Magee
Synopsis
It is the summer of 1979. An English painter travels to a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Mr. Lloyd takes the last leg by curragh, though boats with engines are available and he doesn't much like the sea. But he wants the authentic experience, to be changed by this place, to let its quiet and light fill him, give him room to create.
He doesn't know that a Frenchman follows close behind. Masson has visited the island for many years, studying their language. He is fiercely protective of their isolation; it is essential to exploring his theories of language preservation and identity.
But the people who live on this rock?three miles long and half a mile wide?have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken, and what ought to be given in return. Over the summer, each of them? from great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn, to widowed Mairéad, to fifteen-year-old James, who is determined to avoid the life of a fisherman?will wrestle with their own values and desires. Meanwhile, all over Ireland, violence is erupting. And there is blame enough to go around.
An expertly woven portrait of character and place, a stirring investigation into yearning to find one's own way, and an unflinchingly political critique of the long, seething cost of imperialism, Audrey Magee's The Colony is a novel that transports, that celebrates beauty and connection, and that reckons with the inevitable ruptures of independence.
Reviews
'A writer of huge talent and unusual candour' Chris Cleave
'A compelling exploration of the intersection of the personal and the political.' Bryce Christensen, Booklist
'The Colony is a brilliant novel, a subtle and thoughtfully calibrated commentary about the nature and balance of power between classes, cultures, genders. There is violence here, but, most impressively, Audrey Magee captures that more insidious cruelty?the kind masked as protection, as manners.' Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes
'The Colony: so brilliant in its quiet tragedy, so revealing in its precision. It haunts me.' Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of This Mournable Body
'Audrey Magee has written a lyrical, rich, and emotionally powerful novel that artfully weaves a sense of dislocation and isolation with the burdens of history and imperialism. The Colony comes alive like a brooding and beautiful canvas painted off the Irish coast.' Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
About the Author
Audrey Magee worked for twelve years as a journalist and has written for, among others, The Times, The Irish Times, the Observer and the Guardian. She studied German and French at University College Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University. Her debut novel, The Undertaking, was published in 2014. She lives in Wicklow with her husband and three daughters.