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Few and Far Between
  • Published: 19 April 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529936759
  • Imprint: Doubleday
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $42.99

Few and Far Between

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
21 Apr 2026
EBook
9 Apr 2026
Hardback
19 Apr 2026
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For fans of Mariana Enriquez and Julia Armfield, a literary alternative history about a community living on an archipelago, the flamboyant guru who brought them together and the secrets that will lead to their fall.

From the award-winning author of The Raptures and The Fire Starters.

'A stunningly original novel... 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

'A joy to read…No writer captures the absurdity and beauty of life quite like [Jan Carson] does' 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 Ripeness

‘Jan Carson's understanding of, and love for, complicated human people is unmatched in contemporary literature... her best book yet’ Heather Parry, author of Carrion Crowe
___

It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.

Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s, following their mercurial father, an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.

Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark, monitoring the mysterious Far Side, where ghostly figures linger and the land swallows secrets whole. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...

_____


Praise for Jan Carson:

'Jan Carson is a born storyteller: her work is so imaginative, whimsical, mischievous and brave, but tender and curious too — you never know where she's going to take you next, so reading her is always an adventure.' Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies

'Jan Carson is a unique and very special writer, one of the greatest of the modern fabulists' Donal Ryan, author of Heart be at Peace

'[The Fire Starters] blew me away with its power, anger and wit' Joseph O'Connor, Books of the Year

'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation.' Sunday Times

'Absolutely magnificent: dark, witty, charming' Marian Keyes, author of My Favourite Mistake

'Heart-rending, hilarious . . . It's a belter.' Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
  • Published: 19 April 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529936759
  • Imprint: Doubleday
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $42.99
Categories:

About the author

Jan Carson

Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel The Fire Starters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019. Jan’s latest novel, The Raptures was published by Doubleday in early 2022 and was subsequently shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Her short story collection Quickly, While They Still Have Horses was published by Doubleday (UK) in April 2024 and Scribner (US) in July 2024. Her writing has been aired on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and RTE.

She is the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her first stage play, an adaptation of the children’s classic, The Velveteen Rabbit will be produced by Replay Theatre Company at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in March 2025. Her next novel, Few and Far Between is forthcoming in early 2026.

portrait photo of Jan Carson

Also by Jan Carson

Children's Children
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses
The Raptures
The Last Resort
The Fire Starters
See all

Praise for Few and Far Between

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 Ripeness

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 Carrion Crow

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

No one writes like Jan Carson. Surreal times call for surreal stories, and Few and Far Between packages history, horror and redemption in her signature combination of humour and grace.

Sheila Armstrong, author of Falling Animals