Time of the Child by Niall Williams

"...a compassionate, life-affirming novel about the Christmas season that transforms the small Irish town of Faha."

Synopsis -

Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

Set over the course of one December in the same village as Williams' beloved This Is Happiness, Time of the Child is a tender return to Faha for readers who know its charms, and a heartwarming welcome to new readers entering for the very first time.

Review - 

Times of the Child is a wonderful follow-up book to This is Happiness. Set in the same town of Faha, Ireland, the author focuses in on another family this time - the doctor and his oldest daughter, Ronnie, the only one who has has never left home. She stepped into the role of managing her father's schedule.  Is she happy? It's hard to tell. She is very private and hides her feelings well....at least until the child appears in her life. 

When a local lad discovers an abandoned baby, that is the catalyst for this story. The boy in great distress brings the baby to the doctor, thinking it no longer lives. But when the child proves alive, everything changes in the household. Ronnie bonds with the infant almost instantly, which creates it's own problem. In this era, an unmarried woman will not be allowed to keep a baby. The law requires it be taken into care. What follows is a story of desire, disappointment, reality, and finding a way through.

The baby changes their lives. As the doctor and his daughter do their best to keep the child's presence a secret, we see behind the curtain to their inner personal struggles.  And baring that inner world is what the author does beautifully. We come to know the characters deeply and find ourselves rooting for them. We see their world and move through it with them, smelling the smells and walking in their shoes. 

Will they discover a way to beat the law and keep the child that has become so dear to them?  That is the journey readers are taken on. It's a beautifully told tale and a wonderful read. 

Buy the book: Amazon US ~ Amazon CA

This is Happiness review - HERE

Meet the Author -

Niall Williams studied English and French Literature at University College Dublin and graduated with a MA in Modern American Literature. He moved to New York in 1980 where he married Christine Breen. His first job in New York was opening boxes of books in Fox and Sutherland's Bookshop in Mount Kisco. He later worked as a copywriter for Avon Books in New York City before leaving America with Chris in 1985 to attempt to make a life as a writer in Ireland. They moved on April 1st to the cottage in west Clare that Chris's grandfather had left eighty years before to find his life in America.

Niall Williams has written over 10 novels, including Four Letters of Love (1997), History of the Rain (2014), and This Is Happiness (2019). With his wife Christine Breen, he has co-authored at least five non-fiction books. Williams has also written several screenplays for film and television, some of which are adaptations of his novels. Additionally, he has authored at least three stage plays.

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