The Story of the Night - by Colm Toibin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the award-winning author of Brooklyn and The Master, a powerful, brave, and moving novel set in Argentina.

In Argentina, in the time of the Generals, the streets are empty at night, and people have trained themselves not to see. Richard Garay lives with his mother, hiding his sexuality from her and from society. Stifled by his job, Richard is willing to take chances, both sexually and professionally. But Argentina is changing, and as his country edges toward peace, Richard tentatively begins a love affair. The result is a powerful, brave, and poignant novel of sex, death, and the difficulties of connecting one's inner life with the outside world.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Story of the Night

"Written in a self-reflective style that rings with honesty, bravely constructing a complex metaphor of sex and death in Argentina." --New York Times

"A fine novel, remarkable for the purity of its ambitions." --Washington Post Book World

"Tóibín's genius is that he makes it impossible for us to walk away." --The New Yorker

"A mesmerizing, dark, powerful novel." --The Times (U.K.)

"Beginning the book is like sneaking into a diary; ending it is like losing a fascinating friend." --Harper's Bazaar

"A love story and a political thriller and about being Irish and a coming-out novel." --Esquire

"Tóibín is a fine writer. This novel pulls you in gradually and keeps you guessing." --Edmonton Journal

"A novel that reads like the most memorable of Camus. The story told in restrained, spare, matter-of-fact prose becomes more immediate and powerful as we are drawn in. The anger you feel as you read the final pages will remain long after you have closed the book." --Globe and Mail

"A smart literary novel that is also a satisfying page-turner." --Out

"This is one of the most absorbing new novels I've read in quite some time." --The Irish Times

"This troubling and haunting book is one of shadows and secrets, half-lives and losses, endings and fears." --Observer (UK)

"The intellect which has so conspicuously powered Tóibín¿s writing career is fired here with a new ambition and purpose." --Independent (UK)

"Tóibín's simple but eloquent telling of this personal story is sometimes explicit, often moving, and always vivid in its portrayal of Argentina and its people." --Library Journal (starred review)

"A beautiful, fascinating novel. It is a thriller, a love story, and much more. Colm Tóibín is an extraordinary writer, daring and precise." --Roddy Doyle, author of The Commitments and A Star Called Henry

"A love story of the most serious and difficult kind. [Tóibín] has told it with profound artistry and truth." --Tobias Wolff, author of Old School and This Boy's Life

"With near-geologic patience, Colm Tóibín allows the subterranean energies of this novel--political, sexual, and existential--to percolate to the surface. Just when we feel secure enough to peek over the rim, the volcano erupts. An impressive, beautifully modulated, unexpectedly affecting book." --Jeffrey Eugenides, author of Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides

"This is my favourite of Tóibín's works. Set in the early eighties, Argentina is controlled by oil-rich Americans and power-hungry Generals. A young English professor has been living in the shadow of his mother and hiding his sexual desires. When he is liberated by her death, both he and the country around him are set into a period of enlightenment and upheaval. The loss and grief in the third act left me reeling for days." --Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

About the Author

Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including Long Island, an Oprah's Book Club Pick; The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; and Nora Webster; as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and was named the 2022-2024 Laureate for Irish Fiction by the Arts Council of Ireland. He was shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize. He was also awarded the Bodley Medal, the Würth Prize for European Literature, and the Prix Femina spécial for his body of work.