What scant solace Tom manages to find during his retreat to a granny flat in an ancient castle, disappears like sea mist in the night sky when he is drawn back into an old case involving sexual predation and perverted priests. Suddenly, he is deprived of what to him is \u201cthe whole point of retirement, of existence \u2013 to be stationary, happy and useless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Old God\u2019s Time \u2013 the title referring to a period beyond memory \u2013 is not a cold-case yarn as such (even if it were, it would be lifted beyond the normal realm of the trope by Barry\u2019s lyrical and poetic writing, occasionally liberated from form, occasionally punctuated with the vocabulary of quotidian brutality). Yes, Old God\u2019s Time, is a mystery, but the unraveling of secrets only serves as the vehicle for Barry\u2019s deeper investigation, that of the enigmatic completeness of love and the bottomless whirlpool of loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within these emotional swirls, where what is true and what is imagined intertwine, Tom struggles to find firm footing. He harbors dark truths, about himself and about his late wife, June, who he loved more than life and who, afflicted by her own haunts, \u201chad survived everything but survival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end, what saves Tom from the bleak remains of his life is the embrace of a simple fact: of all that he\u2019s done, of all the villains he\u2019s dealt with, of all the erosion of his faith in human nature, he wants only one thing: \u201cto be a believer again, in something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what is that? \u201cHis life, his little life?\u201d he thinks. \u201cThe fog edged away from the shore of himself, the sea opened like a stage in a theatre, the helpful sun burned in its element, there was a truth told to him, a truth, in his curious age, in his palpable decay, that there at the heart of it, there at the heart of it, forever and always, as June.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Old God\u2019s Time demands patience. Go too fast and you\u2019ll miss Barry\u2019s lingering eye. But bide your time, wrestle over the meanings of Tom\u2019s untethered drifts, and be rewarded by an ending that accelerates as the cold case melts in a furnace of truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pro tip: When an epigraph cites the Book of Job, you know there\u2019s suffering ahead. Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin. A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[809,770,831,836,835],"class_list":["post-2190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-book","tag-book-review","tag-mystery","tag-old-gods-time","tag-sebastian-barry"],"yoast_head":"\nBookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tim Porter's Second Draft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/timporterphotography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-06T01:22:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-06T21:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime-199x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim Porter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190\",\"name\":\"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime-199x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-06T01:22:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-06T21:48:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d\"},\"description\":\"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime.jpg\",\"width\":993,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/\",\"name\":\"Tim Porter's Second Draft\",\"description\":\"Photography, Books, Journalism & Other Curiosities\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d\",\"name\":\"Tim Porter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tim Porter\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft","description":"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft","og_description":"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.","og_url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190","og_site_name":"Tim Porter's Second Draft","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/timporterphotography","article_published_time":"2023-11-06T01:22:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-06T21:48:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime-199x300.jpg"}],"author":"Tim Porter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tim Porter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190","url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190","name":"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry - Tim Porter's Second Draft","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime-199x300.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-06T01:22:55+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-06T21:48:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d"},"description":"Tom Kettle is the Job of Dublin A decorated detective with the Irish national police who arrives at retirement not with the joy of an ex-cop looking forward to unburdened days, but bereft of all that he loved and ladened with sadness.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime.jpg","width":993,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?p=2190#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bookshelf \u2013 Old God\u2019s Time, Sebastian Barry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/","name":"Tim Porter's Second Draft","description":"Photography, Books, Journalism & Other Curiosities","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/efd6f6b05808f784091b582e4231621d","name":"Tim Porter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/964890359b5d3b9d2229d81cf1c545c03e5f2c1369af8c0b1cc43e74b6b4abef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tim Porter"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.timporter.com"],"url":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2190"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2193,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2190\/revisions\/2193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.timporter.com\/seconddraft\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/OldGodsTime-199x300.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n