The Temporary Gentleman

By: Sebastian Barry

Narrated by: Frank Grimes

Jack McNulty is a 'temporary gentleman', an Irishman whose commission in the British army in the Second World War was never made permanent. In 1957, in his lodgings in Accra, he sets out to write his story. He is an ordinary man, both petty and heroic, but he has seen extraordinary things. He has wandered the world - as a soldier, an engineer, a UN observer - following his childhood ambition to better himself.

©2014 Sebastian Barry (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Fascinating and Moving, [it] shows Sebastian Barry to be one of our finest novelists – daring, accommodating and humane" (John Banville)

Another heartbreaking piece of the puzzle

In a story told by Jack McNulty, the brother of Eneas and Tom McNulty, this beautifully-written book fleshes out the narrator's life and that of his wife Mai, and at the same time fills in gaps in our understanding of the extended family. Barry's The Secret Scripture and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty are companion novels to The Temporary Gentleman. All are written in staggeringly beautiful prose and are, at times, almost unbearable in their detailing of the tragedy of Ireland's political conflicts, the treatment of women, and, in this book, alcoholism. While telling us of his wife's descent into alcoholism, Jack McNulty reveals even more about himself and his culpability in her situation.

Frank Grimes does a marvelous job of the narration. These novels by Sebastian Barry (and the ones about the Dunnes: Annie Dunne, A Long, Long Way and On Canaan's Side) are to be listened to and/or read slowly, and savored. They are not all available in audiobook form; I recommend ingesting them in any form you find.