Colum McCann

By the author of Let the Great World Spin, this critically acclaimed novel delves deep into the underbelly of New York ‘Vivid, potent, beautifully measured, and sustained by astonishingly deft description' Maggie O'Farrell ‘A dazzling blend of menace and heartbreak' New York Times Book Review ___________________________ At the turn of the twentieth century, Nathan Walker comes to New York City to take the most dangerous job in the country: digging the tunnel far beneath the Hudson that will carry trains from Brooklyn to Manhattan. In the bowels of the riverbed, the workers - black, white, Irish and Italian - dig together, the darkness erasing all differences. But above ground, the men keep their distance until a dramatic accident on a bitter winter's day welds a bond between Walker and his fellow workers that will both bless and curse three generations. Almost ninety years later, a homeless man nicknamed Treefrog stumbles on the same tunnels and sets about creating a home amongst the drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes and petty criminals that comprise the forgotten homeless community.

'Remarkable ... nimble, lyrical and wispy' Sunday Times 'An utterly riveting, frequently moving, and staggeringly well-written book' Daily Mail 'Breathtaking' Guardian ________________________ This novel opens on a battlefield: trudging back from the front through a ravaged and icy wasteland, their horses dying around them, their own hunger rendering them almost savage, the Russian soldiers are exhausted as they reach the city of Ufa, desperate for food and shelter. They find both, and then music and dance. And there, spinning unafraid among them, dancing for the soldiers and anyone else who'll watch him, is one small pale boy, Rudolf. This is Colum McCann's dancer: Rudolf, a prodigy at six years old, who became the greatest dancer of the century, who redefined dance, rewrote his own life, and died of AIDS before anyone knew he had it. This is an extraordinary life transformed into extraordinary fiction by one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. One kind of masculine grace is perfectly matched to another in Colum McCann's beautiful and daring new novel.

The debut novel from National Book Award winner and Booker nominee Colum McCann 'Colum McCann conjures a hugely inventive debut' Observer ‘McCann writes equally well about Ireland, America and Mexico, and he links past and present in a finely woven narrative: Songdogs is a vivid, beautifully measured book’ Sunday Times __________________ Colum McCann's first novel goes back to the years before the Spanish Civil War, following the adventures of a peripatetic Irish photographer from the war-strewn shores of Europe to the exotic plains of Mexico. The story is told in the words of the photographer's only son, a wanderer himself, who uses his father's unreliable memories and the fading remnants of his art to piece together his family history and explain the mystery surrounding his mother - a Mexican beauty brought back by his father to Ireland.

‘A gifted and determined stylist, Colum McCann seems to have taken a vow never to write a dull line’ New York Times Book Review 'Orwell would have been proud to journey with a writer as good as Colum McCann' Irish Sunday Independent ______________________ An ageing nun is tracked to ground by her sister; a garrulous beautician must lay out the corpse of a loved one. These are eloquent tales of exile and displacement, of characters always in search of a way back home or of a way to leave it. Mischievous, assured and versatile, Colum McCann's collection of short stories marks him out as one of our best contemporary writers.

Shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year Shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize ‘A marvellously engrossing journey, studded with ideas and lyrical treats’ The Times ______________________________________ In 1919, pioneering journalist Emily Ehrlich watches as two young airmen emerge from the carnage of World War One to pilot the very first non-stop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to the west of Ireland. In 1845 Frederick Douglass, a Black American slave, lands in Ireland to champion ideas of democracy and freedom, only to find a famine unfurling at his feet. And in 1998 Senator George Mitchell criss-crosses the ocean in search of an elusive Irish peace. Stitching these stories intricately together, Colum McCann sets out to explore the fine line between what is real and what is imagined, and the tangled skein of connections that make up our lives. ‘History comes vividly to life in a majestic work’ Sunday Times ‘Beautifully hypnotic ... Those who can’t see the point of historical novels will find their answer here’ Emma Donoghue ‘Expertly constructed ... The prose is poetically vivid’ Observer

‘A powerful and moving collection’ Roddy Doyle ___________________ A group of British soldiers appear to help a farmer and his daughter free their horse from a stream in a flood. A young boy and his mother, under cover of night, painstakingly prepare for the marching season ahead. And a young woman and her son sit over a game of chess in a Galway caravan, their thoughts elsewhere – in the Derry prison where a young man is slowly succumbing to hunger strike. Everything in this Country Must reveals the reverberations of political tragedy in the most intimate lives of men and women, parents and children – and confirms Colum McCann as a master storyteller. ‘These are powerful stories – gritty, memorable and ambitious … Goes straight to the heart, both in terms of its theme and its emotional punch’ Edna O’Brien ‘McCann writes with a dazzling blend of menace and heartbreak’ New York Times ‘McCann returns to Ireland with this collection, turning his measured gaze and incisive prose to the country’s recent history with devastating effect’ Maggie O’Farrell

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD ‘A wow of a novel - rich, humane, brilliantly written anda as deep as it is wide' The Times 'An astonishing balancing act by a great writer prepared to take risks. A book to treasure' Daily Mail ________________________ New York, August 1974: a man is walking in the sky. Between the newly built Twin Towers, the man twirls through the air. Far below, the lives of complete strangers spin towards each other: Corrigan, a radical Irish monk working in the Bronx; Claire, a delicate Upper East Side housewife reeling from the death of her son; Lara, a drug-addled young artist; Gloria, solid and proud despite decades of hardship; Tillie, a hooker who used to dream of a better life; and Jazzlyn, her beautiful daughter raised on promises that reach beyond the skyline of New York. In the shadow of one reckless and beautiful act, these disparate lives will collide, and be transformed for ever.

'Beautiful, thoughtful … sharp and scintillatingly sensual' Independent 'With this haunting, poetic work McCann has surely earned his place among the country’s greats' Metro __________________ The life of Zoli Novotna begins on the leafy backroads of Slovakia, when she and her grandfather come upon a quiet lake where their family has been drowned by Fascist guards. Zoli and her grandfather flee to join up with another clan of travelling harpists. So begins an epic tale of song, intimacy and betrayal. Based loosely on the true story of the Gypsy poet Papusza, and set against the backdrop of the Second World War, Zoli is a love story, a tale of loss, and a parable of modern-day Europe.

From the National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Let the Great World Spin and Transatlantic comes a passionate and practical book of advice, as essential for budding writers as Stephen King’s On Writing 'A warm, open-hearted paean to the joys of writing' Sunday Times 'Excellent ... cannot fail as a pick-me-up' Observer I hope there is something here for any young writer – or any older writer, for that matter – who happens to be looking for a teacher to come along, a teacher who, in the end, can really teach nothing at all but fire. From the critically acclaimed Colum McCann, author of the National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin, comes a paean to the power of language, and a direct address to the artistic, professional and philosophical concerns that challenge and sometimes torment an author. Comprising fifty-two short prose pieces, Letters to a Young Writer ranges from practical matters of authorship, such as finding an agent, the pros and cons of creative writing degrees and handling bad reviews, through to the more joyous and celebratory, as McCann elucidates the pleasures to be found in truthful writing, for: ‘the best writing makes us glad that we are – however briefly – alive.’ Emphatic and empathetic, pragmatic and profound, this is an essential companion to any author’s journey – and a deeply personal work from one of our greatest literary voices.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth. Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London. When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair? Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times.

**The instant Irish Times top 5 bestseller** ‘Urgent and utterly compelling’ KEVIN BARRY ‘Twist lingers long after you've put it down' GUARDIAN ‘A Gatsby tale for the internet age’ ANNA FUNDER ‘One of our greatest storytellers’ ELIF SHAFAK ‘Masterful ... A surprising, electric book’ IRISH TIMES Anthony Fennell, a journalist, is in pursuit of a story buried at the bottom of the sea: the network of tiny fibre-optic tubes that carry the world’s information across the ocean floor - and what happens when they break. So he has travelled to Cape Town to board the George Lecointe, a cable repair vessel captained by Chief of Mission John Conway. Conway is a talented engineer and fearless freediver - and Fennell is quickly captivated by this mysterious, unnerving man and his beautiful partner, Zanele. As the boat embarks along the west coast of Africa, Fennell learns the rhythms of life at sea. But as the mission falters, tensions simmer - and Conway is thrown into crisis by a terrible, violent tragedy unfolding in the life he has left behind on land. Then Conway disappears; and Fennell must set out to find him. As taut and propulsive as a thriller, and a timeless exploration of narrative and truth, Twist is the work of a master storyteller at the height of his powers.

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean-from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin"The spirit of Joseph Conrad hovers over the text, but here the heart of darkness lies at the bottom of the ocean."-Salman Rushdie"Everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken."Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world's information. The sum of human existence-words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses-travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth. Fennell's journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London. When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair? Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times.

A darkly epic novel about connection, disconnection and destruction - from the New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Let the Great World Spin

A darkly epic novel about connection, disconnection and destruction – from the New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Let the Great World Spin**The instant Irish Times top 5 bestseller****Named a 2025 book to look out for by the Observer, Financial Times, Irish Times and New European**‘Urgent and utterly compelling’ KEVIN BARRY‘Twist lingers long after you've put it down' GUARDIAN‘A Gatsby tale for the internet age’ ANNA FUNDER‘One of our greatest storytellers’ ELIF SHAFAK‘Masterful ... A surprising, electric book’ IRISH TIMES‘A powerfully realist novel of men at sea … It speaks of the brokenness of our time, the successful and unsuccessful attempts at repairs, and the vulnerability of our world’ SALMAN RUSHDIE____________________________________________________Anthony Fennell, a journalist, is in pursuit of a story buried at the bottom of the sea: the network of tiny fibre-optic tubes that carry the world’s information across the ocean floor - and what happens when they break. So he has travelled to Cape Town to board the George Lecointe, a cable repair vessel captained by Chief of Mission John Conway. Conway is a talented engineer and fearless freediver - and Fennell is quickly captivated by this mysterious, unnerving man and his beautiful partner, Zanele. As the boat embarks along the west coast of Africa, Fennell learns the rhythms of life at sea, and finds his place among the band of drifters who make up the crew. But as the mission falters, tensions simmer - and Conway is thrown into crisis. A terrible, violent tragedy is unfolding in the life he has left behind on land; and, trapped out at sea, it seems as if the vast expanse of the ocean is closing in. Then Conway disappears; and Fennell must set out to find him. As taut and propulsive as a thriller, and a timeless exploration of narrative and truth, Twist is the work of a master storyteller at the height of his powers.'Electrifying, propulsive ... A masterful exploration of the elemental forces at work just below the surface of all our lives' COLIN WALSH, author of Kala

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - An "urgent and] ingenious" (The New York Times Book Review) novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean--from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin "The spirit of Joseph Conrad hovers over the text, but here the heart of darkness lies at the bottom of the ocean."--Salman Rushdie "Everything gets fixed, and we all stay broken." Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world's information. The sum of human existence--words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses--travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth. Fennell's journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London. When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair? Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times.

'An extraordinary story of grace, forgiveness and moral courage' Patrick Radden KeefeA 2024 HIGHLIGHT IN THE OBSERVER, GUARDIAN AND IRISH TIMESSHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDSAN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERThe English language has no specific word for the parent that has lost a child. There exist words for orphan, widow and widower, but there is no word that captures and conveys this tragic type of loss.It has been eleven years since Diane Foley’s son, the American journalist James Foley, was kidnapped in northern Syria, and nearly ten since that day in August 2014 when she would learn that he had been murdered by ISIS in a public beheading that would ricochet in video around the world. A whole decade. Time rushes past. And yet, for Diane, that moment is unending. In American Mother, legendary author Colum McCann tells Diane’s story as she recalls the months of his captivity, the efforts made to bring him home and the days following his death, in which Diane came face to face with one of the men responsible for her son’s kidnapping and torture. A testament to the power of radical empathy and moral courage, American Mother takes us inside one woman’s extraordinary journey to find connection in a world torn asunder, and to fight for others as a way to keep her son’s memory alive.

AN IMMEDIATE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * Featured on MSNBC's Morning JoeWith National Book Award-winning author Colum McCann, Diane Foley courageously returns to the story of her son, American journalist James Foley, who went abroad and never came home. In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as "the Beatles," who pled guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son James Foley seven years before. She asked the legendary writer Colum McCann to be there. "One of the best books I've read in many, many years, if not my life." -Anderson Cooper "A work of great faith and redemption. Here is a woman making the whole world accessible to us all." -Jamie Lee Curtis "A spectacular tale of violence and forgiveness." -Salman Rushdie "Foley's urge to understand the psychology of one of her son's captors made her a perfect match for McCann." -The New York Times "A book that will shake your soul out." -Sting "A call to decency in a war-torn world." -Deborah Jackson Taffa

An early collection by the National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin and ApeirogonThis devastating early collection from Colum McCann finds the National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin already exploring one of his most enduring themes: the reverberations of political violence in individual lives. The setting is McCann's native Ireland in the time of the Troubles, a conflict that manifests both brutally and subtly in everyday life. In the title story, a teenage girl struggles to reconcile her gratitude to the British soldiers who saved the family's horse with her Catholic upbringing. "Wood," which first appeared in The New Yorker, depicts a boy attempting to help the Protestants under the nose of his blind, disapproving father. And in solidarity with his uncle, an imprisoned confederate of Bobby Sands, the teenage narrator of "Hunger Strike" mounts a resistance of his own. Each story displays McCann's unique ability to capture the costs, emotional and psychological as well as physical, of violence, and reminds readers why he's been lauded as "one of the most compassionate writers alive" (Air Mail).