Few and Far Between - by Jan Carson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From a "deeply talented" (The New York Times Book Review), award-winning writer comes an alternate history of Northern Ireland's recent past where the last remaining residents of a haunted archipelago face imminent eviction from their home.

In 1958, a politician's ludicrous proposal to create a seventh county for Northern Ireland by draining Lough Neagh--the largest lake in Ireland--was, quite understandably, never implemented. In Few and Far Between, Jan Carson imagines a timeline in which the scheme proceeded. When an archipelago emerges from the receding water, a utopian community establishes itself on the islands, hoping to escape the prejudices and dangers of Troubles-era Northern Ireland.

As children in the 1970s, Marion and Robert-John Connolly moved to "The Ark" with their mercurial father, a prominent anthropologist studying this unique community. When the novel opens in 2017, the siblings are among the final few inhabitants. Sheltered from modernity, they work as the Ark's caretakers, monitoring the mysterious Far Side islands where ghostly figures linger and the land swallows secrets whole. A devastating algae outbreak is slowly destroying the landscape they love, but government plans to deal with the crisis by flooding the lough would force them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years. When a young anthropologist arrives for field research, the Connollys wonder if this ambitious academic might be the answer to all their problems. Can they keep the Ark from revealing too much of its past?

Written with dark humor and a distinctive Northern voice, Few and Far Between is a novel about family and memory, toxic masculinity and modern womanhood, and the legacy of trauma that offers an illuminating look into the history of a complex place.

Review Quotes

"Carson is one of the best. She has invented a geographical world, but the magic of this tale lies in the fact that it feels almost possible . . . Carson's insightful observation of human behaviour, richly painted setting, and vibrant characters carry the twists and turns of this tale without any of the clear (and frequently delightful) metaphors ever weighing it down. Rather than hovering between invention and reality, Few and Far Between firmly occupies a space that simply feels like both." --RTE.ie, "Book of the Week"

"At turns funny, warm, and heartbreaking, Few And Far Between is Carson's best book to date--a sharp-eyed reminder that things are never as they appear at first glance." --Irish Daily Mirror

"Jan Carson's novel of big emotions caught in small words weathers the line between fiction and fact with real skill and surreal dexterity." --Irish Times

"Carson's colloquial language and ironic humour star in her fantastical new novel." --Books Ireland Magazine

"Haunting and darkly funny. Jan Carson has the fearlessness and bounce of Anne Enright and Kate Atkinson, and a wide-ranging, endlessly surprising scope. Few and Far Between is moody and mysterious, a gothic like no other." --Flynn Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy

"Few and Far Between is a stunningly original novel told with warmth and humour. The story of an island sanctuary, it celebrates all the joys and challenges of living in a community, and should further cement Carson's reputation as one of the most imaginative and talented Irish writers at work today." --Roisín O'Donnell, author of Nesting

"Jan Carson's understanding of, and love for, complicated human people is unmatched in contemporary literature. In Few and Far Between she turns that canny eye to the long effects of, and attempts to recover from, The Troubles, and what results is her best book yet." --Heather Parry, author of Orpheus Builds a Girl

"Few and Far Between is Jan Carson's most ambitious novel yet--bold in its counter-factual conception, confident in its scope, yet intimate in the knowledge of its characters, all of whom are accorded dignity and a quiet humanity. It's also very, very funny." --Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days

"A joy to read . . . No writer captures the absurdity and beauty of life quite like Jan Carson does, and with this novel she has created something especially prescient, a fictional microcosm that speaks so powerfully about the troubled state of the planet, and of society. I revelled in her attention to detail, to the unexpected, to glorious oddity." --Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter Wither

"Warm, sharp, and gloriously funny, Jan Carson writes exuberant prose about difficult people in interesting times." --Sarah Moss, author of The Ghost Wall

About the Author

Jan Carson is the author of several short story collections and novels including Quickly, While They Still Have Horses; The Raptures; and The Fire Starters, winner of the EU Prize for Literature. She has won the Harper's Bazaar short story competition and been shortlisted for many awards, including the BBC National Short Story Award, the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, and the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year. Jan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and her writing has been translated into over a dozen languages, appeared in numerous journals, and been frequently broadcast on BBC Radio. She lives in Belfast.