One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller, the last of a fabled breed, arrives unannounced and mysterious at a house in the Irish countryside. By the winter fireside he begins to tell the story of this extraordinary land: Ireland. One of his listeners, a nine-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling then, when the old man leaves, he devotes his life to finding him again.

It is a search that uncovers both passions and mysteries, in his own life as well as the Storyteller’s, and their solving becomes the thrilling climax of this tale. But the life of this boy is more than just his story: it is also the telling of a people, the narrative of a nation, the history of Ireland in all its drama, intrigue and heroism.

The novel travels through the centuries by way of story after story, from the savage grip of the Ice Age to the green and troubled land of tourist brochures and news headlines. Along the way, the reader meets foolish kings and innocent monks, god-heroes and great works of art, shrewd Norman raiders and strong tribal leaders, poets, politicians and lovers. Each illuminates the magic of Ireland and the eternal connections of its people to the land.

A novel of huge ambition, beautifully told, the book is the unstoppably readable story of a remarkable nation.