History of the Rain: A Novel

Confined to her bed in the attic of her family home in County Clare, Ruthie Swain—daughter of a dead poet and survivor of a mysterious collapse—spends her days searching for the father she lost and the meaning he left behind. Surrounded by his towering library, she sets out to read every book he ever loved, hoping to uncover the shape of the man who shaped her.

Through generations of family lore—written and spoken—Ruthie chronicles the legacy of the Swains and the MacCarrolls: their fishermen, dreamers, and storytellers. With wit, pathos, and her own Superabundance of Style, she writes Ireland into the margins of her confinement—the rain-soaked fields, the river’s pull, and the ache of absence. In telling their stories, Ruthie may just find a way to return to her own.

History of the Rain is a moving meditation on grief, family, and the power of stories to sustain us. 

Longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize.