Toibin is the consummate cartographer of the private self, summoning with restrained acuity (and a delicious streak of sly humour) the thoughts his characters struggle to find words for -- Clare Clark * Guardian *
There are few authors more attuned to human yearning * The i *
Toibin is a subtle, intelligent and deeply felt writer * Guardian *
A master of understated emotions * Mail on Sunday *
Toibin [is] a master of his art . . . exquisite * Los Angeles Times *
Toibin has conducted an exhilarating masterclass in extract the maximum effect from the minimum of prose, with the leanest and cleanest narrative line . . . His gifts are so remarkable -- Robert McCrum * Independent *
Toibin is a class act and his eye for the absurdities of Irish life keeps the pages turning * Mail on Sunday *
A writer evidently at the height of his powers * Sunday Independent *
Toibin writes prose of a heart-breaking beauty * Daily Telegraph *
Colm Toibin is a writer of extraordinary emotional clarity . . . Toibin perfectly understands the instantaneous nature of the ideal short story; the sense that the pen is going straight into a major vein -- Kate Saunders * Literary Review *
It is in his emotional choreography that Toibin shows himself to be an exceptional writer * Sunday Telegraph *
It's truly remarkable that a writer of Toibin's great felicity, immense seriousness and general large awareness - a writer so naturally gifted as a novelist - can deliver short stories of such subtle empathy and brilliance. He's dazzling -- Richard Ford