Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023--San Antonio

Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry was long listed for the Booker Prize and named a top book of 2023 by many reviewers.  It is beautifully written.  The format is like a stream of consciousness going through the mind of one man which, with so many details, slowed down my reading speed but allowed me to appreciate the beauty of the writing.  It is the story of a man and his family, all of whom had had sad lives.  He is retired and is the only one still alive. He and his wife grew up without parents present.  There are stories of abuse and neglect.  When they meet, he can't believe such a beauty would be interested in him, but their common backgrounds attract each to the other.  He has become an criminal inspector for the Irish police, and she is working in a cafe.  They have married and have had 2 children.  Slowly, the flowing thoughts going through his mind reveal the secrets of what has happened over the years. Central to the story are two priests, one who has abused young girls for years and one who has abused young boys.  The retired inspector is living in a small apartment attached to a small new castle (from the early 1900s).  It is in a remote seaside area of Ireland.  He has maintained a quiet, private existence in the 9 months since he retired.  But he is contacted by two young policemen whose boss (who was a partner on the force with the retiree decades ago and who has remained friends with him) has recommended they visit him to get information about one of the priests.  Decades ago, the retiree and his partner had investigated the priest, found lots of photos of nude young boys, and had tried to charge the priest with crimes.  However, the higher authorities, all good Catholic Irishmen, had given the evidence to the Cardinal and the priest was allowed to continue his misdeeds.  With the church losing lots of its influence in current times, they were trying to find witnesses who would be willing to testify against the priest.  But there is also a complication due to the fact that the other priest, the one who had molested young girls, had been murdered years ago with no clear proof of who had done it.  The two priests had been close friends, so digging into the case against one led to digging into the other, since there is a chance in modern times that DNA could be found on items of clothing that had been retained in storage.  But the book is mostly a slow reveal of the lives of the retiree, his wife who died just before his retirement, and his two children who both died as young adults.  It's the story of how it is hard to escape the past and its influence on the rest of one's life.  And its the story of a man aging who seems to be having memory lapses and maybe hallucinations.  It's a very good book.  I gave it 5 stars out of 5.