Colm Tóibín's long-awaited sequel to Brooklyn, Long Island, has been named Waterstones Irish Book of the Year.
The Enniscorthy native is the current Laureate for Irish Fiction and has previously written 10 books, three of which were nominated for the Booker Prize (The Blackwater Lightship, The Master and Brooklyn), many works of non-fiction and two collections of stories.
Speaking to the Irish Times on the award Tóibín said: "I worked slowly and tentatively on ‘Long Island’. I followed my instinct but I was never sure. So it makes a big difference now that this novel ‘Long Island’ is Waterstone’s Irish Book of the Year. It cheers me up and makes me feel that maybe I did something right."
Waterstones Irish commercial manager, Lily Keohane said readers have been "spoiled for choice after yet another outstanding year of Irish writing".
"We’ve been spoiled for choice after yet another outstanding year of Irish writing, with new novels by Sally Rooney, Kevin Barry and Booker-longlisted Colin Barrett’s debut to name only a few. But the true standout of the year has to be Colm Tóibín’s masterpiece, Long Island."
She described the novel as "deceptively quiet" and "full of longing, reconnection and the joy of love rediscovered."
"This deceptively quiet novel full of longing, reconnection, and the joy of love rediscovered is the work of a writer at the height of his considerable powers. For many, this is a return to already beloved characters and for others, it’s an opportunity to discover one of Ireland’s finest writers for the first time."
