Few and Far Between: The stunning new novel from the winner of the EU Prize for Literature

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