History of the Rain

By: Niall Williams

Narrated by: Jennifer McGrath

We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling. In Faha, County Clare, everyone is a long story....

Bedbound in her attic room beneath the falling rain, Plain Ruth Swain is in search of her father. To find him Ruthie must first trace the jutting jaw lines, narrow faces, and gleamy skin of the Swains from the restless Reverend Swain, her great-grandfather, to her father, Virgil - via pole-vaulting, leaping salmon, poetry and the 3,958 books piled high beneath the two skylights in her room.

©2014 Niall Williams (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Extremely moving, poignantly capturing Ruth's doomed childhood relationship with her twin brother. By the final chapter I was weeping." ( Sunday Times)

"A rambling, soft-hearted Irish family saga stuffed with eccentricity, literature, anecdotes, mythology, humour and heartbreak." ( Kirkus)

Lyrical wonderful book

This book is absolutely unsentimental but still moving and beautiful. The Irish rural characteristics both tragic and comic are given great treatment and yet it has a modern feel because it is set after the economic boom and bust that happened in Ireland. I highly recommend it

The narrator, as Ruth in this novel, is mesmerizing. Outstanding.

As with all of Niall's books, paying attention is a must. Not the book for picking up and putting down over and over during vacation. It's like an American beer, it's best when chugged. This one stands out for me because it takes a subject that most folks have difficulty with - dying or having those we love die - and gives it an entirely and for me, different perspective. It's Grand tbh. The fact that Niall has been able to invent FaHa, Ireland and then pull so many great novels from this quaint, little tight knit, obscure, eclectic and eccentric parish/village/town is nothing short of extraordinary. As stated above, make sure you can stay the curse before you dive into this one (unlike say, 'Time of the Child', where you could pick up where you left off and feel fulfilled) and I promise you it's well worth it. Maybe it's my age, but I'm leaning towards not melancholy novels lately and it's very satisfying, just like this book.

Brilliantly written, in all ways

Beautiful, lyrical, hauntingly sad, but also hopeful. I loved this book, all i want a book to be.

Ireland My Heart

I love hearing the heart of Ireland through the words of Niall Williams, read with an Irish accent.

Great writing

I disliked the mention of the numerous books in father’s library but they do play an integral part of the story. Very good but I liked his other books better.