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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the award-winning author of The Raptures and The Fire Starters, a magically surreal novel about history, identity and redemption

It’s summer 2017 and the last few residents of the Lough Neagh Archipelago are facing imminent eviction. The flood planned to combat a devastating algae outbreak will submerge their homes, forcing them back to the Mainland for the first time in fifty years.

Robert-John and Marion Connolly came to the islands as children in the 1970s, following their mercurial father, an anthropologist studying the unique society that had developed there. For many, the Neagh Archipelago represented a utopia, a chance to be free of the prejudices and history of Troubles era Northern Ireland. But perhaps this utopia wasn’t all that it seemed.

Marion and Robert-John have grown accustomed to their haunted existence on the Ark, monitoring the mysterious Far Side, where ghostly figures linger and the land swallows secrets whole. How will they cope with a new life on the Mainland? Is it possible to leave the past behind? And will the Ark ever let them go...

'A stunningly original novel... one of the most imaginative and talented Irish writers at work today' Roisín O’Donnell, author of Nesting

'No writer captures the absurdity and beauty of life quite like [Jan Carson] does' Sara Baume, author of Seven Steeples

‘Warm, sharp and gloriously funny' Sarah Moss, author of Ripeness

‘Her best book yet’ Heather Parry, author of Carrion Crow

© Jan Carson 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

Warm, sharp and gloriously funny, Jan Carson writes exuberant prose about difficult people in interesting times
Sarah Moss, author of Ripeness
A stunningly original novel told with warmth and humour. The story of an island sanctuary, it celebrates all the joys and challenges of living in a community, and should further cement Carson's reputation as one of the most imaginative and talented Irish writers at work today.
Roisín O’Donnell, author of Nesting
Jan Carson's understanding of, and love for, complicated human people is unmatched in contemporary literature. In Few and Far Between she turns that canny eye to the long effects of, and attempts to recover from, The Troubles, and what results is her best book yet.
Heather Parry, author of Carrion Crow
A joy to read… No writer captures the absurdity and beauty of life quite like [Jan Carson] does, and with this novel she has created something especially prescient, a fictional microcosm that speaks so powerfully about the troubled state of the planet, and of society. I revelled in her attention to detail, to the unexpected, to glorious oddity.
Sara Baume, author of Spill Simmer Falter Wither
Few and Far Between is Jan Carson’s most ambitious novel yet – bold in its counter-factual conception, confident in its scope, yet intimate in the knowledge of its characters, all of whom are accorded dignity and a quiet humanity. It’s also very, very funny.
Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days
No one writes like Jan Carson. Surreal times call for surreal stories, and Few and Far Between packages history, horror and redemption in her signature combination of humour and grace.
Sheila Armstrong, author of Falling Animals

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