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Sebastian Barry

Author of The Secret Scripture

41+ Works 8,211 Members 444 Reviews 30 Favorited

About the Author

Sebastian Barry is a playwright whose work has been produced in London, Dublin, Sydney, and New York. He lives in Wicklow, Ireland, with his wife and three children. Sebastian Barry is an Irish writer and playwright, born in 1955. He is the author of two novels, A Long Long Way and Days Without show more End, which won the Costa Book Award for best novel. His other awards include the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Prize, the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, the Independent Booksellers Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Series

Works by Sebastian Barry

The Secret Scripture (2008) 2,850 copies
Days without End (2016) 1,266 copies
A Long, Long Way (2005) 1,231 copies
On Canaan's Side (2011) 722 copies
The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty (0204) — Author — 531 copies
Old God's Time (2023) 384 copies
Annie Dunne (2002) 380 copies
The Temporary Gentleman (2014) 308 copies
A Thousand Moons (2020) 292 copies
The Steward of Christendom (1996) 50 copies
De verre voortijd (2023) 21 copies
Our Lady of Sligo (1998) 18 copies
The Pride of Parnell Street (2007) 15 copies
Andersen's English (2010) 13 copies

Associated Works

In Parenthesis (1937) — Foreword, some editions — 618 copies
The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction (1999) — Contributor — 149 copies
Midsummer Nights (1702) — Contributor — 74 copies
The Secret Scripture [2016 film] (2016) — Original book — 7 copies

Tagged

19th century (28) 20th century (56) 21st century (50) American Civil War (33) audiobook (55) Booker (27) Booker Prize (31) Booker Prize Shortlist (66) Civil War (54) ebook (45) family (62) fiction (956) grief (26) historical (72) historical fiction (301) history (33) Ireland (558) Irish (178) Irish fiction (135) Irish literature (195) Kindle (52) library (35) literary (34) literary fiction (61) literature (82) love (31) memory (49) mental health (35) mental illness (66) mystery (29) novel (160) read (70) Roman (27) signed (29) Sligo (36) to-read (545) unread (28) USA (36) war (77) WWI (159)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Barry, Sebastian
Birthdate
1955-07-05
Gender
male
Nationality
Ireland
Birthplace
Dublin, Ireland
Places of residence
Dublin, Ireland
County Wicklow, Ireland
Education
Trinity College, Dublin
Occupations
playwright
novelist
poet
Organizations
Harry Ransom Center
University of Iowa
Villanova University
Awards and honors
Lloyds Private Banking Playwright of the Year Award (1995)
Agent
Derek Johns (AP Watt)
Short biography
Sebastian Barry is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He was named Laureate for Irish Fiction, 2019–2021. He is noted for his dense literary writing style and is considered one of Ireland's finest writers.

Members

Discussions

October 2022: Sebastian Barry in Monthly Author Reads (October 2022)
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry in Booker Prize (September 2011)

Reviews

Really good story of the First World War and the mental confusion caused by the Easter Rising. Gets into the soldiers' minds plausibly. What it was like in the trenches.
 
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jgoodwll | 54 other reviews | Mar 1, 2024 |
Thickly written ghost story.

"People endured horrors, and then they couldn't talk about them. The real stories of the world were bedded in silence."
 
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lelandleslie | 31 other reviews | Feb 24, 2024 |
It took the first 100 pages for me to fully get into this book, but so worth it. Tom Kettle is a retired policeman living near the Irish Sea in a rather remote apartment. Two younger policemen come to visit and references are made to the "priests" - an unpleasant memory but the reader is not sure why.

A colleague of Tom's comes later and it seems he has been accused by a priest of killing another priest who is now accused of child molestation. Did Tom kill the first priest as an act of revenge due to the fact that the first priest had molested his wife June. Tom's childhood was terrible as an orphan living in an orphanage run by priests and nuns He joined the Army and became a sharpshooter in Malaysa which enabled him to join the police force.

The book is beautifully written (with some strange similes at times), and the ending brought tears. Both of his children, Joe and Winnie, have died terrible deaths, his wife is gone, and how much of his memories are correct. This is truly a case of an unreliable narrator.

Tom's entire life has been affected by tragedy, but he has survived. What memories are real, what are dreams. Ending brought tears.
… (more)
 
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maryreinert | 31 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |

Lists

Awards

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Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
41
Also by
4
Members
8,211
Popularity
#2,947
Rating
3.9
Reviews
444
ISBNs
326
Languages
15
Favorited
30

Charts & Graphs