The South
Written by Colm Toibin
Narrated by Terry Donnelly
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
In 1950, Katherine Proctor leaves Ireland for Barcelona, determined to escape her family and become a painter. There she meets Miguel, an anarchist veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and begins to build a life with him. But Katherine cannot escape her past, as Michael Graves, a fellow Irish émigré in Spain, forces her to reexamine all her relationships: to her lover, her art, and the homeland she only thought she knew.
The South is a novel of classic themes—of art and exile, and of the seemingly irreconcilable yearnings for love and freedom—to which Colm Tóibín brings a new, passionate sensitivity.
Colm Toibin
Colm Tóibín is the author of eleven novels, including Long Island; The Magician, winner of the Rathbones Folio Prize; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary; and Nora Webster; as well as two story collections and several books of criticism. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and has been named as the Laureate for Irish Fiction for 2022–2024 by the Arts Council of Ireland. Three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Tóibín lives in Dublin and New York.
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Reviews for The South
86 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Katherine Proctor leaves her husband and young son in Ireland to become a painter in Spain. She's a seeker and a difficult person. Toibin explores exile and artists during Katherine's life from the 1950s to 1970s, and how she eventually returns home to reclaim a part of her past.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Colm Tóibín has recently been in the news for his new book, The Master which tells the story of Henry James, and is supposedly very good. I haven’t read it, so I don’t know :) But the publicity did encourage me to pick this book up when I spotted it in the library
His first novel, it tells the story of Katherine Procter who leaves her life in Ireland for Spain, leaving behind her husband and son as well as Enniscorthy. In Spain she finds romance, and a new life as an artist, but is constantly haunted by the past. Both her own history and that of Miguel’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The book starts off in 1950, a fact I really should have paid a little bit more attention to, otherwise I wouldn’t have been so surprised by certain things. But once I checked the date I was sorted.
It is a wonderful read, a great exploration of memory and the impact of the past. Nothing is really resolved, or changed. There is no happy ever after, but it isn’t a depressing book. The language is great, especially many of the descriptions of the light. There are no real explanations offered, it is up to the reader to discover the links between the characters - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After a devastating fire, Katherine Proctor leaves behind her son and husband in a politically tumultuous Ireland, arriving in Barcelona. She becomes an artist and meets Miguel, a Spanish Civil War veteran. She also meets Michael Graves, an Irishman living in Spain. She loves Miguel and builds a life with him, eventually bearing his daughter. After tragedy strikes, she eventually returns to Ireland to face the past. I really did not like Katherine. She acted too irresponsible for me. In spite of my dislike of the main character, I appreciated Toibin's writing. He paints his own pictures with his style.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a truly beautiful story on so many levels. The writing is tight and exquisite. The characters are full-bodied with all of their mysteries and faults. The setting is varied and full, at the end of the book driving me to my own computer to have a look at pictures of many of the seaside venues in Wexford, Ireland. Political (Catalonia under Franco in Spain) and religious controversy (the Church of Ireland versus Roman Catholicism) inserted themselves into this novel's pages but never completely took over the immediate story of the characters as they related to each other. I was intrigued that this was the debut novel of Colm Tóibín and appreciated what a talent he has for writing about an individual's experience. I have read two other of his novels and plan to read more. It's an exhilarating experience to be under the influence of this author's words.The South tells the story of Katherine, a young woman, who left her husband Tom and son Richard in Enniscorthy, Ireland, and came to live in Barcelona with a Miguel, a known rebel against the Franco rule. Miguel takes great interest in his fellow rebel Carlos Puig. Both Katherine and Miguel develop a deep friendship with Michael Graves, a man also from Enniscorthy. Katherine, Miguel and Michael Graves are artists who developed their painting skill in an art school in Barcelona under the guidance of Ramon Rogent. Don't worry too much about the story itself. Just let Katherine's tale carry you along at will. Enjoy the ride!