The Colony

by Audrey Magee Narrated by Stephen Hogan

Overview

It is the summer of 1979. An English painter travels to a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Mr. Lloyd takes the last leg by curragh, though boats with engines are available and he doesn't much like the sea. He wants the authentic experience, to be changed by this place, to let its quiet and light fill him, give him room to create. He doesn't know that a Frenchman follows close behind. Masson has visited the island for many years, studying their language. He is fiercely protective of their isolation; it is essential to exploring his theories of language preservation and identity. But the people who live on this rock-three miles long and half a mile wide-have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken, and what ought to be given in return. Over the summer, each of them-from great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn to widowed Mairéad and fifteen-year-old James, who is determined to avoid the life of a fisherman-will wrestle with their own values and desires. Meanwhile, all over Ireland, violence is erupting. And there is blame enough to go around. An expertly woven portrait of character and place, a stirring investigation into yearning to find one's own way, and an unflinchingly political critique of the long, seething cost of imperialism, The Colony is a novel that transports, that celebrates beauty and connection, and that reckons with the inevitable ruptures of independence.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Longlisted for the Booker Prize
A Best Book of the Year at The Times (London), The Irish Times, and The Globe and Mail
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Irish Book Award

“The Colony is a novel of ideas . . . Magee builds her world with a rich particularity . . . [anchored] in the brutal political realities of Ireland during a fateful summer, while acting as a reminder of imperialism’s broader legacy around the world.”
—Kathryn Hughes, The New York Times Book Review

“There are layers on layers [in The Colony]—art, revolution, passion and cheating, who is lying to whom, and how much do we lie to ourselves . . . What price are we willing to pay for creativity and fame?”
—Nancy Brown, The Boston Globe

“A story about language and identity, about art, oppression, freedom and colonialism . . . A novel about big, important things.”
—Lucy Scholes, Financial Times

“An exploration of art, language, and love.”
—The Christian Science Monitor, “10 Best Books of May”

“Like a fable, The Colony is sealed up tight, all possible meanings accounted for. And, like history itself, it has a bitter lesson to teach . . . It makes an ultimately satisfying shape in the mind, and creates a mood that lingers discomfitingly after the final page is turned.”
—Kevin Power, The Guardian

“What a relief it is to find a novel that treats the reader as a grown-up, that is fresh without chasing literary fashion, provocative but not shouty, and idiosyncratic but fully satisfying from the strange comedy of its opening pages to its decisive conclusion . . . [The Colony] contains multitudes—on families, on men and women, on rural communities—with much of it just visible on the surface, like the flicker of a smile or a shark in the water.”
—John Self, The Times

“Inspired . . . Magee strikes an expert balance of imagination and lucidity . . . [The Colony] proves that the path to understanding is a meaningful one.
—Ciara Brennan, The Rumpus

“[A] panorama of lyrical beauty, effort, and complex connection . . . A finely wrought, multilayered tale with the lucidity of a parable.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Lyrical and trenchant . . . It’s a delicate balance, and one the author pulls off brilliantly.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A compelling exploration of the intersection of the personal and the political.”
—Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review)

“[The Colony] demands close attention, but deserves it as a carefully written and serious work of art should.”
—Allan Massie, The Scotsman

“A breathtaking and poignant story about language, art, and cultural identity.”
—Olivia Rutligliano, CrimeReads

“Lyrical . . . Forceful.”
—Amanda Ellison, BookBrowse

“The Colony is a brilliant novel, a subtle and thoughtfully calibrated commentary about the nature and balance of power between classes, cultures, genders. There is violence here, but, most impressively, Audrey Magee captures that more insidious cruelty—the kind masked as protection, as manners.”
—Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes

“A careful interrogation, The Colony expertly explores the mutability of language and art, the triumphs and failures inherent to the process of creation and preservation.”
—Raven Leilani, author of Luster

“A lyrical, rich, and emotionally powerful novel. The Colony comes alive like a brooding and beautiful canvas painted off the Irish coast.”
—Dominic Smith, author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

“The Colony is a vivid and memorable book about art, land and language, love and sex, youth and age. Big ideas tread lightly through Audrey Magee’s strong prose.”
—Sarah Moss, author of The Fell

“So brilliant in its quiet tragedy, so revealing in its precision. It haunts me.”
—Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of This Mournable Body

“The Colony is brimming with ideas about identity and soul; a canny, challenging, and never less than engrossing read.”
—Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation

Library Journal - Audio

09/01/2022

Irish journalist Magee (The Undertaking) uses artist Mr. Lloyd to shine light on a small remote island off the west coast of Ireland and on the troubles in Northern Ireland in 1979. The author expertly employs this peaceful yet isolated island's chiaroscuro, contrasting it to the bustling city of Belfast and its violent underside. Magee uses linguist J. P. Masson to bring out the island's voice, the ancient language of an ancient people still spoken by a handful of citizens; colonized long ago by the British, the Irish are united and divided by their English. Narrator Stephen Hogan gives these islanders and their visitors a voice. The islanders—from a great-grandmother to her grandson, who hopes to paint his way off the island and avoid being a fisherman like his drowned father, grandfather, and uncle—present themselves like rungs on a ladder going from the past to the future but caught in a terrifying present. Daily newspapers tell the story of people lost to the troubles. VERDICT Listeners will feel moved by the friendships and experiences depicted in this audiobook.—Laura Trombley

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175323598
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	06/07/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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