Niall Williams Books In Order

Publication Order of Boy Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Niall Williams is a historical fiction author born in Dublin, Ireland. He studied Literature and French at the University College of Dublin and was awarded an MA in Modern American Literature. Niall worked as a copywriter for Avon Books in New York City before leaving America with Chris in 1985to try life as a writer in Ireland.

In the first four books, Williams collaborated with Chris as they told their life together in Co Clare. Nial’s debut novel, Four Letter of Love, became an international bestseller and was sold in more than twenty countries. The second novel, As It Is in Heaven, was shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize. He has also written screenplays of which film companies have optioned two.

This is Happiness
Even though it’s not a long time when life was simpler, many changes are going on in Faha, a small Irish parish that has never experienced any changes for almost a thousand years. Rain has changed; no one can remember when it started since rain in the area has been a condition of living.

Now the rain has stopped, and as Father Coffey proclaims, the rain clouds have started going up due to the introduction of electricity. Noel Crowe, a seventeen–year–old, is idling in the rare sunshine when Christy comes to Faha for the first time. With him come secrets that he wants to atone for.
Even though he’s not able to explain it, Noel seems to have a hint, but then it appears something has changed. While Faha residents foresee the endless procrastinated appearance of electricity, Christy’s past slowly comes into the light offering this small town a new glow. On the other hand, Noel steers his coming of age and how he falls in and out of love.

This book portrays a community, its failures and success, kindness and inconsistency, its traditions and quirks, and a coming of age like no other. The author tenderly and lovingly evokes and illuminates a family and community with their unique beauty. Even if it rained non-stop in all its forms all the time, it shapes the location and its people.

People have stories, and stories are the source of celebration, one of the few reasons to live. It’s fundamental to Faha and brings people together, with everyone at the center of its rituals and traditions. Even though some people may not believe the stories, the truth is that they have a currency that is conventional bone deep in its Irishness.

Nothing seems more Irish than the central point of the Catholic Church, and true to it, in Faha; the lifeblood is at St Cecilia’s Church where Father Coffey denies all opportunities to move.

Noel Crowe, a 78-year-old man, is reflecting his life and loves, a good life, and even though there were villains in Faha, the place was scarcely unsusceptible to the results of the failed Irish institutions laid also bare the strains of impoverished lives.

Noel doesn’t want this to dominate a large percentage of his memories, he’s already aware of his mistakes, stupidity and he hurts others unintentionally. He decides to go back to the time he went back to Faha when he was 17 years old, just after losing his faith and leaving the seminary. He was too afraid of whether the world would love it and plagued by thoughts that life somehow passed him by.

Christy who comes back to Ireland poorer than the time he left to travel far countries. He looks so wrinkled and has poor eyesight, and young Noel can feel that he will be an example for change. Noel is lives with Doudy and Ganga, his grandparents who kept ancient courtesies intact in the theatre, as Noel learns what sacrifice it took to be independent and undefeated by the forces of reality.

This is happiness serves a glorious story of Noel’s unfolding life, and Christy resolved to amend his past errors. The pace in the novel is so eloquent, built with slow rhythms for rural life, reflecting the pace of life that appears to be beyond reach for some people. The story takes in the changes that came with the introduction of the telephone and electricity and their effects on Faha.

History of the Rain
The book is a story set in Faha, rural Ireland, where rain never stops pouring. The characters seem to be rained upon, and the perpetual flood swallows up their fate. It’s narrated by a 19-year-old Ruth Swain who lies on bed battling for her life. As the rain pours down the skylight in the attic room, Ruth comforts herself by reading numerous books she inherited from her poetic father. During her trips to Dublin for treatment, she writes and reads this story we are reading. At its heart, the book talks about the transforming power of stories.

Ruth tries tracing her father’s family history, queer fish Swains, who from the Philosophy of Impossible Standard in her thoughts. It’s a prior conclusion that the relentless search to be ‘beyond excellent’ comes with a price.

Three generations of men strive to meet the impossible standard; they are all able men who bear a burden of impossible ambition and struggle to find their happiness. On the other hand, Ruth is not free from the burden of promise, and it’s evident in her self-introduction.
Ruth has a twin brother, Aeney, the golden boy, the fast runner in school has a beautiful smile and charm, and everyone admires him, especially her father. Ruth loves Aeney, and she hopes that they can navigate the Impossible Standard as a team.

Virgil’s story has the strongest emotional charge for the losses and hardship he suffered in search of happiness that evaded his fore bearers. Ruth narrates this heartbreaking story with humorous divergence in the community’s life and the cheeky sides and comments on people in Faha.

The book calls for total attention so that the reader can grasp all the information. The story shows how Niall Williams is a gifted writer who can compose elicits music out of a magical blend of letters we have always known as words.