We Are Not in the World

Wonderful, wrenching ... full of enormous feelings very precisely rendered.

Sara Baume

A whirlpool of memories, regrets and hopes.

Tim Pears

A sad and stunning meditation on love, grief and long haul driving. This is a novel about distance and closeness which explores those bonds which exist between people long after they leave each other behind. O'Callaghan's prose is shot through with poetry. He has an uncanny ability to turn the seemingly insignificant into something monumental.

Jan Carson

Full of wit, charm, and off-beat language - this heartbreaking novel is beautifully drawn in its observation of relationships, intimacy, love and the fragility of family. Unusual, utterly original and mysterious, O'Callaghan is a stunningly good writer. We Are Not In The World is definitely a 2020 must read.

Elaine Feeney

Haunting, mesmerising, and so deeply intelligent about the interwoven strengths and frailties of the human heart.

Kamila Shamsie

Intimate, gripping, stunning - having read this, the rest of us writers all have to raise our games now.

Danny Denton

Elusive, unsettling, beautiful, haunting. This is a complex, devastating study of human relations; a portrait of intense love and damage in equal measure.

Lisa Harding, author of Harvesting

A darkly atmospheric tale of a loner seeking to rebuild his life after a failed love affair. The pursuit of that search, the missteps behind it, and the hard truths he learns in the process are the key concerns of a novel likely to intrigue and unsettle readers.

Sunday Times Ireland

Powerful . . . compelling and profoundly moving...establishes O'Callaghan as one of the most talented contemporary Irish writers.

Irish Times

O'Callaghan's writing is so precise, so penetrating and endearing, that it all comes together in a gripping way.

The Big Issue

'Memorably disturbing...stylish, deft...very much of the moment...brilliant. Beckett on wheels.'

Guardian

There is a truly ­stunning plot twist that causes the reader to reappraise everything that the narrative has previously articulated . . . packs a real emotional punch

The Tablet

...the book stays with you, a haunting presence you cannot - and do not want to - escape...astounding

Ruth Gilligan, Irish Independent

Beautifully written and hauntingly imagined

Sunday Business Post

Lit up with moments of unexpected beauty and humour...heartbreaking, sweetly logical, tentatively hopeful.

The Spectator

A whirlpool of memories, regrets and hopes.

Tim Pears