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    The Secret Scripture

    A Novel

    Author Sebastian Barry
    Ebook
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
    On sale Jun 12, 2008 | 320 Pages | 9781101202920
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    Now a major motion picture starring Rooney Mara

    An epic story of family, love, and unavoidable tragedy from the two-time Booker Prize finalist and author of Old God's Time

    Sebastian Barry's novels have been hugely admired by readers and critics, and in 2005 his novel A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In The Secret Scripture, Barry revisits County Sligo, Ireland, the setting for his previous three books, to tell the unforgettable story of Roseanne McNulty. Once one of the most beguiling women in Sligo, she is now a resident of Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital and nearing her hundredth year. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an engrossing tale of one woman's life, and a poignant story of the cruelties of civil war and corrupted power. The Secret Scripture is now a film starring Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, and Vanessa Redgrave.
    • WINNER
      Costa Novel Award
    • WINNER
      IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
    • WINNER
      Irish Novel of the Year
    • WINNER
      Tubridy Listeners' Choice Award
    © Hannah Cunningham
    Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. The 2018-21 Laureate for Irish Fiction, he is the author of nine novels, five of which have been long- or short-listed for The Booker Prize, most recently Old God’s Time (2023). His work has won numerous awards in Ireland, the UK, and France, including the Costa Book of the Year award, the Walter Scott Prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In the U.S., his novels have been recognized by the ALA Carnegie Medal (longlist), the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (shortlist), and the High Plains Book Award (winner). He lives in County Wicklow, Ireland. View titles by Sebastian Barry
    " [Barry writes] in language of surpassing beauty. . . . It is like a song, with all the pulse of the Irish language, a song sung liltingly and plaintively from the top of Ben Bulben into the airy night."
    -Dinitia Smith, The New York Times

    " Barry recounts all this in prose of often startling beauty. Just as he describes people stopping in the street to look at Roseanne, so I often found myself stopping to look at the sentences he gave her, wanting to pause and copy them down."
    -Margot Livesey, The Boston Globe

    "Luminous and lyrical."
    -O, The Oprah Magazine

    About

    Now a major motion picture starring Rooney Mara

    An epic story of family, love, and unavoidable tragedy from the two-time Booker Prize finalist and author of Old God's Time

    Sebastian Barry's novels have been hugely admired by readers and critics, and in 2005 his novel A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In The Secret Scripture, Barry revisits County Sligo, Ireland, the setting for his previous three books, to tell the unforgettable story of Roseanne McNulty. Once one of the most beguiling women in Sligo, she is now a resident of Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital and nearing her hundredth year. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an engrossing tale of one woman's life, and a poignant story of the cruelties of civil war and corrupted power. The Secret Scripture is now a film starring Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, and Vanessa Redgrave.

    Awards

    • WINNER
      Costa Novel Award
    • WINNER
      IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
    • WINNER
      Irish Novel of the Year
    • WINNER
      Tubridy Listeners' Choice Award

    Author

    © Hannah Cunningham
    Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. The 2018-21 Laureate for Irish Fiction, he is the author of nine novels, five of which have been long- or short-listed for The Booker Prize, most recently Old God’s Time (2023). His work has won numerous awards in Ireland, the UK, and France, including the Costa Book of the Year award, the Walter Scott Prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In the U.S., his novels have been recognized by the ALA Carnegie Medal (longlist), the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (shortlist), and the High Plains Book Award (winner). He lives in County Wicklow, Ireland. View titles by Sebastian Barry

    Praise

    " [Barry writes] in language of surpassing beauty. . . . It is like a song, with all the pulse of the Irish language, a song sung liltingly and plaintively from the top of Ben Bulben into the airy night."
    -Dinitia Smith, The New York Times

    " Barry recounts all this in prose of often startling beauty. Just as he describes people stopping in the street to look at Roseanne, so I often found myself stopping to look at the sentences he gave her, wanting to pause and copy them down."
    -Margot Livesey, The Boston Globe

    "Luminous and lyrical."
    -O, The Oprah Magazine

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