Niall Williams's internationally bestselling "delicate and graceful love story... a magical work of fiction" (NYTBR), now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne.

Nicholas Coughlan is twelve years old when his father, an Irish civil servant, announces that God has commanded him to become a painter. He abandons the family and a wife who is driven to despair. Years later, Nicholas's own civil-service career is disrupted by tragic news: his father has burned down the house, with all his paintings and himself in it.

Isabel Gore is the daughter of a poet. She's a passionate girl, but her brother is the real prodigy, a musician. And yet this family, too, is struck by tragedy: a seizure leaves the boy mute and unable to play. Years later, Isabel will continue to somehow blame herself, casting off her own chances for happiness.

And then, the day after Isabel's wedding to man she doesn't love, Nicholas arrives on her western isle, seeking his father's last surviving painting. Suddenly the winds of fortune begin to shift, sweeping both these souls up with them. Nicholas and Isabel, it seems, were always meant to meet. But it will take a series of chance events-and perhaps, a proper miracle-to convince both to follow their hearts to where they're meant to be.

• We started tracking this book on July 13, 2015.
• This book was $11.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 35 times in the past 3,738 days.
• The current price of this book is $9.99 last checked 12 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $3.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on February 3, 2020.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $15.19 last reached on October 5, 2025.
• This book has been $15.19 one time since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionBritish & Irish
• Literature & FictionContemporary FictionLiterary

• Publication Date: November 3, 2015
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 369 Pages
• File Size: 10 KB