Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry

 

Tom Kettle is a recently retired policeman.  His wife has died and his son and daughter are grown and gone so he has moved close to the sea, living in a small apartment next to his landlord and a woman with a small son.  He doesn't interact with anyone, spending his time walking and remembering his life.  

But that is about to change.  One night two policeman from his station show up at his door.  They tell him that the chief wonders if he would come in and help them out with a cold case, that his expertise and memories of the crime might be of use in finally closing the book on this one.  

Tom isn't sure about this as he thought his policing days were behind him.  But when his friend, the chief, also comes and asks, he agrees.  A few days later he goes and finds out that the case is one of a murdered priest.  Tom remembers the case as he and his partner were the investigating officers and he gives the new investigators what help he can.

But this has opened up Tom's memory.  Slowly, layer by layer, we start to uncover Tom's own secrets, the lies he has told himself in order to live.  We start to see that Tom's memory is not what it should be, that he is missing time, sometimes entire days and nights.  Will the true story of Tom's life ever be discovered?

Barry is one of my favorite authors, each work of his a gem in itself.  Although many of his novels are set in the past, this one is more recent.  It pits a man facing terrors in his own life and terrors at work against his memory.  How much can he bear to remember?  What is truth and what is fantasy?  This novel has been nominated for the Booker Prize and is another memorable work by an author at the height of his powers.  It is recommended for literary fiction readers.