O NOW! is published on 8 October’26 in UK/Ireland & November 10'26 in US/Canada.
PUBLISHER: BLOOMSBURY
From novelist Niall Williams, bestselling author of Time of the Child and This Is Happiness, a new story set in the small Irish town of Faha, exploring love, loss, and the "why" of life. Mossie Crowe, known as "Ganga," is that rare man who is beloved by everyone who knows him and is particularly cherished by his best friend, Bat. On one ordinary October day, Bat interrupts their usual evening tea to ask Ganga why God created the earth. But when Ganga passes away that night, Bat finds himself at a loss, without his friend and without an answer to his question. Over the next days, as all of Faha comes to care for and honor the body of the man they loved, Bat begins a new journey towards understanding life, death, and love.
A tender exploration of life's many meanings, O Now! is a perfect gift for readers who loved Niall Williams' previous Faha novels and features an all-new essay from Niall exploring Faha's creation and legacy.
From the acclaimed Irish author Niall Williams. Read by Dermot Crowley. Available now on BBC Radio 4.
Reviews
Originally produced for radio, this novella revisits the charming Irish village of Faha with its quirky cast of characters. The delightful bonus for Williams’s fans is the second half of this slim volume: a personal essay in which Willliams describes aspects of his writing life, how he came to create Faha, and how dear the characters are to him.
— The Library Journal
Two aging friends discuss mortality and the mysteries of the afterlife in this pensive short story from Williams (Time of the Child), set in mid-20th-century rural Ireland. Bat Considine, 68, and his 70-something friend Mossie “Ganga” Crowe meet in Ganga’s farmhouse on a rainy late-October evening. There, Bat poses two philosophical questions: “What I’d like to know is why the world exists,” and “What I’d like to know is the mind of God.” Bat agrees with Ganga that if one of them dies first, the other will come back with the answers. When Bat returns to Ganga’s home three nights later, on Halloween, he discovers Ganga dead, sitting in the same spot Bat last saw him. Bat decides to stay with Ganga until he can return from heaven, but a neighbor’s visit disrupts his vigil. The remainder of the story follows the wake, through which Bat comes to something of an answer to his questions. An essay from Williams on the tale’s inspiration breaks the spell, but the story itself has no shortage of small-town charm and unsentimental insights into grief. The author’s fans will enjoy this.
— Kirkus (Starred) Review
In this shimmering jewel of a novella, the canny and perceptive Williams offers a quiet, lyrical, deeply satisfying contemplation of life’s deepest riddles. In three previous novels, including Time of the Child (2024), Williams has lured legions of readers to Faha and its country lanes. A companion essay reveals that while Faha is a world thoroughly of his imagination, it’s also as real as any place that can be pinpointed on a map.
— Booklist (Starred) Review
O NOW!
published 8 October 2026 (UK/IRE)