“Real change is often only seen in hindsight,” Irish writer Niall Williams observes in “Time of the Child.” This theme runs through many of his novels, which look back on pivotal points when the winds of change, however subtle, could be felt rustling through rural communities. Williams’ latest bear hug of a book takes place in 1962 and is set, like “History of the Rain” and “This Is Happiness,” in a fictional Irish village called Faha, on the banks of the River Shannon in County Clare.
It’s a place where “the line between comedy and tragedy was drawn in pencil, and oftentimes rubbed out.” Although “Time of the Child” involves several of the same characters as “This Is Happiness” – which takes place four years earlier, when electricity finally came to town – each book stands well on its own. Together, they paint a shimmering portrait of a gradually shifting social landscape.
The central event in “Time of the Child” is the discovery of an infant in Faha’s churchyard on a cold, wet night during the Christmas season of 1962. Twelve-year-old Jude Quinlan, who comes upon the abandoned baby while waiting to usher his unreliable father home from the pub after the holiday fair, brings the baby, cradled in his arms, to the local doctor. This unexpected turn of events proves both challenging and transformative for Dr.
Troy, his eldest daughter, and the tight-knit community. Written in a close third person point of view, the narrative beautifully.