The Colony

Irish journalist Magee (The Undertaking) uses artist Mr. Lloyd to shine light on a small remote island off the west coast of Ireland and on the troubles in Northern Ireland in 1979. The author expertly employs this peaceful yet isolated island’s chiaroscuro, contrasting it to the bustling city of Belfast and its violent underside. Magee uses linguist J. P. Masson to bring out the island’s voice, the ancient language of an ancient people still spoken by a handful of citizens; colonized long ago by the British, the Irish are united and divided by their English. Narrator Stephen Hogan gives these islanders and their visitors a voice. The islanders—from a great-grandmother to her grandson, who hopes to paint his way off the island and avoid being a fisherman like his drowned father, grandfather, and uncle—present themselves like rungs on a ladder going from the past to the future but caught in a terrifying present. Daily newspapers tell the story of people lost to the troubles.