- Published: 21 January 2021
- ISBN: 9781473578241
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 240
Life Sentences
the unforgettable Irish bestseller
- Published: 21 January 2021
- ISBN: 9781473578241
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 240
Billy O'Callaghan's writing is so good and true it feels almost magical; Life Sentences is a beautiful book, a small epic, a joy.
Sadie Jones
O'Callaghan is amongst the finest storytellers and wordsmiths in Ireland today.
Anne Griffin
Momentous and epic storytelling.
Bernard MacLaverty
A superb and moving novel . . . O'Callaghan is one of our finest writers, in the tradition of John McGahern and Brian Friel, and this is his best work yet.
John Banville, Sunday Independent *Books of the Year*
The novel I most look forward to is Billy O'Callaghan's Life Sentences.
Maggie Fergusson, Tablet *Highlights of 2021*
The accomplished writer . . . O'Callaghan has proved an empathic and expert diviner of the extraordinary in ordinary lives.
Marjorie Brennan, Irish Examiner
The strength of Life Sentences lies in its long range but intimate style . . . A reader could profitably finish the book and go straight back to its beginning
John Self, Spectator
A beautiful novel.
Eithne Shortall, Sunday Times Culture
An absolutely stunning book . . . A truly beautiful read.
Sinéad Moriarty
People who read Sebastian Barry, Donal Ryan, Liam O'Flaherty will really love [Life Sentences] . . . It's my book of the year so far.
Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio One
Lyrical, poignant, gripping . . . O'Callaghan weaves together a narrative that is compelling and dazzlingly rendered.
James Moran, Tablet, *Novel of the Week*
One of the most beautiful books of the year.
Sam Blake, #1 Irish Times bestselling author of the Cat Connolly trilogy
A gifted storyteller.
Donal O'Donoghue, RTÉ Guide
O'Callaghan's prose is mesmerising in its beauty . . . Profound, moving, sometimes shocking, [Life Sentences is] from the pen of a writer at the top of his game.
Anne Cunningham, Meath Chronicle
Life Sentences brilliantly immerses us in its respective time periods, and . . . O'Callaghan's natural gifts as a writer . . . the author often coming out with a stunning turn of phrase.
Barry Pierce, Sunday Times
A terrific family saga.
Village Bookshelf
A lovely, piercing book.
Sebastian Barry
The reader is invested from the start . . . So poetically elegant as to be breathtaking . . . Life Sentences is writing at its finest.
Claire Fullerton, New York Journal of Books
A lyrical prose reminiscent of William Trevor, and a haunting family drama.
Times Literary Supplement
One of the most exciting literary talents to emerge in the last decade.
Irish Examiner