History of the Rain

History of the Rain - Paperback

$18.99
$18.99
Skip to product information
History of the Rain
  • History of the Rain
History of the Rain - Paperback

History of the Rain - Paperback

by Niall Williams
$18.99
$18.99

Book Overview

"I am utterly obsessed with Niall Williams." -Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake

From the author of the November 2025 Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club Pick, This Is Happiness, this novel introduces readers to Niall Williams' enchanting Irish village of Faha in a profound, beautifully written book about family, legacy, and the incredible power of stories.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize.

We are our stories. We tell them to stay alive or keep alive those who only live now in the telling. That's how it seems to me, being alive for a little while, the teller and the told.

So says Ruthie Swain. The bedridden daughter of a dead poet, home from college after a collapse, she is trying to find her father through generations of family history in County Clare and through her own writing. Ruthie turns also to the books her father left behind, his library transposed to her bedroom and stacked on the floor.

In her attic room, with the rain rushing down the windows, Ruthie writes Ireland, with its weather, its rivers, its lilts, and its lows. The stories she uncovers and recounts bring back to life multiple generations buried in this soil--and they might just bring her back into the world again, too.

Niall's other novels set in Faha include This Is Happiness and Time of the Child, which are both available now!
ISBN9781620407707
Author Niall Williams
PublisherBloomsbury USA
GenreLiterature
FormatPaperback
PublishedNovember 2015
LanguageENG- English
Pages368
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

Fiction Literary

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

More by Niall Williams

This Is Happiness

This Is Happiness - Hardcover

This Is Happiness - Hardcover

By Niall Williams

About Niall Williams

Niall Williams was born in Dublin. He is the author of nine novels, including History of the Rain, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and Four Letters of Love, which will soon be a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel, This Is Happiness was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year and longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, Ireland.

You may also like