The Colony

By: Audrey Magee

Narrated by: Stephen Hogan

It is the summer of 1979. An English painter travels to a small island off the west coast of Ireland. Mr. Lloyd takes the last leg by curragh, though boats with engines are available and he doesn't much like the sea. He wants the authentic experience, to be changed by this place, to let its quiet and light fill him, give him room to create. He doesn't know that a Frenchman follows close behind.

Masson has visited the island for many years, studying their language. He is fiercely protective of their isolation; it is essential to exploring his theories of language preservation and identity. But the people who live on this rock—three miles long and half a mile wide—have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken, and what ought to be given in return.

Over the summer, each of them—from great-grandmother Bean Uí Fhloinn to widowed Mairéad and fifteen-year-old James, who is determined to avoid the life of a fisherman—will wrestle with their own values and desires. Meanwhile, all over Ireland, violence is erupting. And there is blame enough to go around.

An expertly woven portrait of character and place, a stirring investigation into yearning to find one's own way, and an unflinchingly political critique of the long, seething cost of imperialism, The Colony is a novel that transports, that celebrates beauty and connection, and that reckons with the inevitable ruptures of independence.

©2022 Audrey Magee (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

I was hoping for more

Pros:interesting topic that introduces a way of life and a part of the world not many people know. Very ambitious storytelling, I’m interested to see how this author develops.
The reader was amazing, almost worth listening to the book for his skills.

Cons: None of the characters were like able.The book began to drag towards the end and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.
The interior monologues were way too long, though occasionally beautifully written.

Deep Inner Life of Characters

This book took you inside the minds of its characters. Their hopes, dreams, sorrows, beliefs, and delusions of grandeur. It blurs the lines of who and what is “good” vs “bad” because it examines motives, which sometimes make all the difference.

I hated it

I hated it. it sucked - because there was so much truth in it I guess.

The language

Loved the narrator! The story itself was beautiful, as were all the island characters. Both of the main characters were unforgettable.

beware ecstatic reviews

This is not an audible book. It is as slow as a wet week on a cold windswept island. It is maddeningly slow and the characters are utterly unlikeable. The narrator drops to a whisper when reading the internal musings of the artist in the book and one has to turn the volume up and then down again.
Beware reviews that include "lyrical", "magical", or "trenchant". It is "the colony" being nice to one of their own