Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, a remarkable novel about Henry James, the American-born novelist and a connoisseur of exile.

'A triumph' – The Observer
'A masterly achievement' – The Independent

In January 1895 Henry James anticipates the opening of his first play, Guy Domville, in London. The production fails, and he returns, chastened and humiliated, to his writing desk. The result is a string of masterpieces, but they are produced at a high personal cost.

In The Master Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn and Long Island, captures the exquisite anguish of a man who circulated in the grand parlours and palazzos of Europe. Who was astonishingly vibrant and alive in his art, and yet whose attempts at intimacy inevitably failed him and those he tried to love. It is a powerful account of the hazards of putting the life of the mind before affairs of the heart.

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.

Prizes

Short-listed for Man Booker Prize 2004 (UK)

An audacious, profound, and wonderfully intelligent book. -- Hermione Lee * Guardian *
A marvel of lightly worn research and modulated tone. -- John Updike * New Yorker *
A must read. Colm Tóibín has not only written a spectacular novel he has found a way to pay tribute to Henry James. We should all be so gifted and so lucky. -- Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn, and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.