In Kiltumper

‘Poignant … A meditation on life, love and the importance of nature’ IRISH TIMES

When they were in their twenties, Niall Williams and Christine Breen made the impulsive decision to leave New York City and move to Christine’s ancestral home in the town of Kiltumper in rural Ireland. In the decades that followed, the pair dedicated themselves to writing, gardening and living a life that followed the rhythms of the earth.

In 2019, with Christine in the final stages of recovery from cancer and the surrounding land threatened by the arrival of turbines, Niall and Christine decided to document a year – in words and Christine’s drawings – of living in their garden and in their small corner of a rapidly changing world. Proceeding month by month through the year, this is the story of a garden in all its many splendours, and a couple who have made their life observing its wonders.

Author Biography

Niall Williams is the author of ten novels, including This Is Happiness, shortlisted for Best Novel in the Irish Book Awards and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and History of the Rain, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Christine Breen is the author of Her Name Is Rose and the co-author of four non-fiction books on country living in Ireland.
They live in Kiltumper, County Clare, Ireland.