Tower and Town, September 2023 (view the full edition)Sebastian Barry (Golding Speaker) - Old God's TimeSebastian Barry is opening this year's festival as our Golding Speaker, discussing his latest novel, Old God's Time. It is the story of a recently retired policeman, Tom Kettle, who is settling into his new home, a flat annexed to a Victorian castle. He spends his days sitting in a wicker chair, smoking cigarillos and looking out at the Irish Sea. He is not unhappy, though his habits are ossifying and his life has lost its purpose. He is surprised one evening to find his tranquillity disturbed by two officers from his old force. It seems Tom may have information about a decades-old case involving two paedophile priests. It takes a while to reveal the full story as Barry masterfully takes us into Tom's imagination and his memories of his deep past: his honeymoon when he thought he was going to die, but found himself so happy, his time as a sniper in Malaya and his years with the Garda and, more importantly, his overwhelming love for his deceased wife, June, and his children, Winnie and Joe. When the truth of the past is finally revealed, it is hard to believe Tom's testimony. Is he in the early stage of dementia? Or an unreliable narrator? Such is Barry's skill, we're in the dark until the very end. This event is sponsored by the William Golding Trust and will be in the Town Hall at 7.30pm on Friday 29 September.  Virginia Reekie |