This event has been cancelled. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. If you had a ticket for this event the Box Office will be in touch about next steps.

CHANGE OF DATE:  Please note, this event was advertised in our brochure as Tuesday 10th March.  The date of this event has since changed to Monday 23rd March.

The Narrow Land is the stunning new novel from the beloved Christine Dwyer Hickey, the bestselling author of Last Train from Liguria. The critically acclaimed, award-winning novelist and short-story writer will be discussing her latest book – a fictionalized account of the long and often troubled marriage of American artist Edward Hopper to his wife Jo, played out over one summer in Cape Cod in 1950. It is a novel of loneliness and regret, the legacy of World War II and the ever-changing concept of the American Dream.

The Narrow Land

1950: late summer season on Cape Cod. Michael, a ten-year-old boy, is spending the summer with Richie and his glamorous but troubled mother. Left to their own devices, the boys meet a couple living nearby – the artists Jo and Edward Hopper – and an unlikely friendship is forged.

She, volatile, passionate and often irrational, suffers bouts of obsessive sexual jealousy. He, withdrawn and unwell, depressed by his inability to work, becomes besotted by Richie’s frail and beautiful Aunt Katherine who has not long to live – an infatuation he shares with young Michael.

A novel of loneliness and regret, the legacy of World War II and the ever-changing concept of the American Dream.

“A brilliant portrait… With a beguiling grace and a deceptive simplicity, Christine Dwyer Hickey reminds us that the past is never far away – rather, it constantly surrounds us, suspends us, haunts us.” – Colum McCann

“I loved this book. Christine Dwyer Hickey writes such beautifully poised prose. Flawed lives played out in a postcard perfect setting.” – Graham Norton

“Everything about the writing is so carefully balanced – thought and action, feeling and movement, drama and suspense. She leaves space on the page, giving her characters the freedom to behave unexpectedly and to occupy the mind of the reader even when they are offstage. It is a long time since I have read such a fine novel or one that I have enjoyed quite so much.” – Irish Times

About the author

Christine Dwyer Hickey is a critically acclaimed, award-winning novelist and short-story writer.

“One of Ireland’s most lauded modern writers.” – Daily Mail
“A talented and original writer.” – Irish Independent

Christine Dwyer Hickey is an award-winning novelist and short story writer. Her novel The Cold Eye of Heaven won the Irish Novel of the Year of the Year 2012 and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Last Train from Liguria was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards novel of the year 2004. Her bestselling novel Tatty was chosen as one of the 50 Irish Books of the Decade, longlisted for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year Award, for which her novel The Dancer was also shortlisted. She lives in Dublin.

Photo of Christine Dwyer Hickey © Deirdre Power