Tom Kettle is a retired Irish policeman. He has moved from Dublin to a village on the sea. Most of his days are spent sitting in his old wicker chair, looking out on the water and back on his life. Often Tom as well as the reader isn’t sure if events actually happened or he is imagining them. One night two policemen knock on his door and ask for Tom’s his help on an old case. This crime brings back horrors that Tom has spent years suppressing.

I found Old God’s Time brilliant, timely, horrific and depressing. The writing is lovely, weaving between reality and fantasy like Tom’s mind. Barry’s novel is not an easy read, but well worth the effort. In God’s Time is one of the saddest works I have read in a long time, but, for me, a beautiful piece of literature.