Faber to publish new novel by Audrey Magee

The Colony is the new novel from Audrey Magee, whose first novel The Undertaking was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Louisa Joyner acquired rights from Peter Straus at RCW Literary Agency. Faber will publish on 3 February 2022. American rights have been placed with Jenna Johnson at FSG.

Two men arrive to document an island. Mr Lloyd has decided to travel to the island by boat without engine – the authentic experience. Unbeknownst to him, Mr Masson will also soon be arriving for the summer. Both will strive to encapsulate the truth of this place – one in his paintings, the other with his faithful rendition of its speech, the language he hopes to preserve.

But the people who live here on this rock – three miles long and half-a-mile wide – have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken and what is given in return. Over the summer each of the women and men in the household this French and Englishman join is forced to question what they value and what they desire. At the end of the summer, as the visitors head home, there will be a reckoning.

Blending the clarity of Colm Tóibín’s prose with the emotional truth of Anne Enright The Colony is a masterclass in belonging and loss.