There are artists that can visually bring a scene, a memory, to a canvas, through their talent, and their artistic vision, sharing a moment captured in such a way that can move the viewer, sharing their gift, and perhaps a bit of their heart and soul. There are authors who can do the same through their words on a page, bringing to life a place, a time, the heart and soul of people on pages, creating a connection that, in the best of stories, allows you to see and feel their joys and sorrows so completely, to know them so intimately that they become a part of you beyond the last page.

Eoin Lane is a talented Irish artist, his landscapes sharing his vision of the world around him. In this debut novel, he shares the story of a man’s life, beginning with his childhood in the 1950’s, when an event that will shape his life occurs. The family is enjoying a holiday by the sea, a brief escape from the daily routines of life.

”They stood for a moment as the foam licked their feet, then raced in.”

”There was sun on her eyelids and the tang of seaweed in a freshening breeze. She moved her hand slightly, spilling the tea, and opened her eyes and watched the colored tumblers rolling like tulips on the sand. The wave began to rise.”

After this event, Colin ceases to speak, preferring to hide inside his room and his thoughts. It is through art classes that he begins to share his feelings on canvas, and eventually his voice returns to him, but his connection to his voice on canvas, where he releases his thoughts and feelings that haunt or move him becomes his lifelong passion.

A hauntingly lovely story, I was pulled in from the first pages and completely swept away by the story and the lyrical prose, as well. A love story on several levels, this is an ode to those places and people to which we feel drawn, an ode to love, to art, and to life, itself.


Pub Date: 20 Jun 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Blackstone Publishing

It is perhaps no surprise that as well as being being a writer, Eoin Lane is also an accomplished Irish landscape artist. Here he has produced a wonderful lyrical and haunting book that examines the very essence of being an artist and the effect that this calling will have on an artist's life and relationships The story begins by the sea in County Wicklow, Ireland in 1951 with a father and his son going swimming in the sea. A tragedy occurs and Colin, aged six. is the only one to return to the beech.

This incident will shape Colin's subsequent life and although he is initially mute he turns to painting to make sense of his life, inspired by the wonderful landscapes of Paul Henry. Now in old age and living alone and secluded on Inishbofin island off the west coast of Ireland with his faithful dog, we learn of Colin's life and the passion that the landscapes of sea and sky had always held for him. A wonderfully written book where one can visualise the paintings and the landscapes described. Strongly recommended.