Shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year
Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
'A marvellously engrossing journey, studded with ideas and lyrical treats' The Times
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In 1919, pioneering journalist Emily Ehrlich watches as two young airmen emerge from the carnage of World War One to pilot the very first non-stop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to the west of Ireland. In 1845 Frederick Douglass, a Black American slave, lands in Ireland to champion ideas of democracy and freedom, only to find a famine unfurling at his feet. And in 1998 Senator George Mitchell criss-crosses the ocean in search of an elusive Irish peace.
Stitching these stories intricately together, Colum McCann sets out to explore the fine line between what is real and what is imagined, and the tangled skein of connections that make up our lives.
'History comes vividly to life in a majestic work' Sunday Times
'Beautifully hypnotic ... Those who can't see the point of historical novels will find their answer here' Emma Donoghue
'Expertly constructed ... The prose is poetically vivid' Observer
