Colm Toibin was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including Brooklyn, the 2009 Costa Novel of the Year, The Master, which was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize and winner of the LA Times Book Prize and the IMPAC Book Award, and The Blackwater Lightship, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize and the 2001 IMPAC Award. His non-fiction includes Bad Blood, Homage to Barcelona, The Sign of the Cross and Love in a Dark Time. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. He lives in Dublin.
A must read. Colm Toibin has not only written a spectacular novel he has found a way to pay tribute to Henry James. We should all be so gifted and so lucky. -- Alice Sebold, author of <i>The Lovely Bones</i> and <i>Lucky</i> A marvel of lightly worn research and modulated tone. -- John Updike * New Yorker * An audacious, profound, and wonderfully intelligent book. -- Hermione Lee * Guardian *