Islands

William Wall is the author of four novels, three collections of poetry, and two previous volumes of short fiction. His work has won many prizes, including the Virginia Faulkner Award, the Patrick Kavanagh Award, and the Sean O’Faolain Prize. He has been short- or longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Irish Book Awards, the Raymond Carver Prize, and the Manchester Fiction Prize, among others. His work has been translated into many languages, and he translates from Italian.

The Islands is evocative, moving, yet tough-minded, written with marvelous style and authority. After just the first few sentences, we trust absolutely that this writer is in control and knows what he's doing. The narratives move expeditiously, even when they're thick with description, and the characters' voices are distinct and convincing. It was a pleasure to read.