There is something of Trollope's Barsetshire here, in the sense of an entire place rendered in fine detail ... Williams's phrasing is immaculate and even the smallest characters are drawn with attention and detail. But Dr Troy is the heart of this slow, rich novel. The scene in which he dances with the baby in a quiet kitchen is one of the most affecting I've read * The Times *
A compellingly emotional experience that catches the breath and doesn't let up until it reaches its final, dramatic conclusion * Guardian *
Time of the Child dazzles as both Christmas tale and erudite novel ... A stylistic cousin to the vernacular achievements of Kevin Barry and Roddy Doyle, but also distinctive ... Williams packs his paragraphs with lush imagery and piercing psychological insight. Let's raise a glass of mulled wine to an Emerald Isle master at the peak of his powers * Washington Post *
When I cried, it was because, with his careful and compassionate depictions of people, place and time, Williams reminds us of the humanity in all, of the vitality of a community that comes together, and of the power in revealing our vulnerabilities to others
* New York Times Book Review *
An exquisite portrayal of the characters, weather, geography and everyday life in rural west Ireland in 1962 ... Akin to Dickens in his brilliantly detailed observations ... Kind, wry, funny and poignant, this needs a great film director * Woman & Home, Books of the Year *
My new favourite ... A study in human community that made me laugh out loud and remember how to love even the people who cause others so much suffering, and especially those who come together to ease it -- Margaret Renkl * New York Times *
Williams, always skilful and compelling, has wrought something plausible out of one of the oldest stories we have ... Williams's delicacy in depicting the mysteries of interactions both human and divine is quietly satisfying ... Williams excels in his characterisation * Financial Times *
Williams's newest is another master class in stunningly poetic depictions of the sorrow and beauty of arduous lives * People Magazine, Book of the Week *
There's a quiet grace to this slow-paced, poetic novel set in rural Ireland in the run-up to Christmas 1962 ... A story brimming with kindness and courage * Mail on Sunday *
Readers looking to get into the Christmas spirit early this year will find plenty of it in Niall Williams's new novel,
Time of the Child, a warm and life-affirming story about ordinary people going to extraordinary lengths * Irish Times *
The genius - yes, genius - of Niall Williams is his evocation of the ordinary, which in his hands becomes an exaltation. He shares with Marilynne Robinson and Anne Tyler the gift of seeing the sublime in the everyday, a series of precises of each and every human soul * The Weekly *
A sublime tale of small-town Irish life ... A slow-burning, finely crafted novel about second chances, humanity and familial love,
Time of the Child rewards close reading ... Williams's descriptive language is extraordinary - his use of understatement and irony artfully deployed, his characterisation sublime. I find it astonishing that, despite his global success, he has yet to win a big award * Observer *
A powerful pleasure to find myself back in Faha where the prose is luminous, the people irresistible, the stories mesmerizing, and it never stops raining -- Karen Joy Fowler
A remarkably wonderful book ... I was in tears * Church Times *
Heartwarming ... If you are looking for a novel that speaks to our better angels, pick up
Time of the Child -- Graydon Carter
Williams quietly lets us glimpse the story's underlying harshness between the lines of his warm and finely turned festive tale ... A lyrical, mid-20th-century tapestry set in a slowly transforming society as the advent of electricity revolutionises everyday life * Daily Mail *