Sebastian Barry is one of my favourite authors and The Newer World didn't disappoint.

It's the story of Tennyson Bouguereau – freed man, devoted brother, singer and soldier set in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It's narrated by Tennyson himself in the first person. It's about the choices Tennyson makes in his life as a freed man, but where 'Freed' is 'not the same as free'.

The setting will be familiar to those who have read Barry's Days without End and A Thousand Moons, which are also set during and after the American Civil War and it was a delight to meet the characters Thomas McNulty, John Cole and Winona from the earlier books again who make a reappearance in The Newer World. However, you don't need to have read the earlier books as The Newer World Stands alone.

Barry's writing is exquisite:
"He had a sort of is-he-isn't he look to him, my father".
"Since my mother was nothing, we were going to be the same, myself and Rosalee, and we didn't know anything else but that. We were born in the ordinary way and no one remembers that for themselves".
"Flashes of many things cut through my mind. Kingfisher thoughts".

In this novel, Tennyson studies The Odyssey and there are many references in the book to Homer whose Odyssey covers similar themes to The Newer World, including survival, displacement, the aftermath of war, the meaning of home and the enduring pull of the family.

I can't recommend this novel and Sebastian Barry's other works more highly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Faber for an ARC of this novel.

‘Freed not the same as Free’

This is the era of the American Civil War and beyond. A story of Tennyson,twin brother to Rosalee, whose blacksmith father has been hanged for being black and this is before they are born. In a world where white cruelty abounds Tennyson has to negotiate his way through life. Always there is the spectre of danger hanging over him just for being black.

The novel follows him as the main character from his childhood. There is an interesting cast of characters and if you have read Sebastian Barry before you will be pleased to catch up with Irishman Thomas McNulty, his partner John Cole and their adopted Indian daughter Winona.

A very interesting journey which is still left unfinished by the end of the novel.

As always, Barry writes very well and he certainly knows how to tell a good story. I have read several of his novels before and I recommend this book highly.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publishers. Thank you.

The story takes place in America in the mid 1800s at the time of the American civil war, the abolition of slavery, the gold rush and the Western Indian wars. These events provide a vivid background to the story of two siblings, Tennyson and his sister Rosalee, who were born into slavery and found themselves orphaned early in life.

The novel explores their journey into the new world as “free” black Americans but this new found freedom is hard earned and hard lived. With little means of their own and facing systemic racial discrimination, they find the courage to explore this “newer world” relying on the kindness of strangers and the depth of newly formed friendships to survive and form a new identity of their own.

The story is narrated by Tennyson himself and we journey with him through his life and through the events of his time as he searches for his place in the world.

While the author never shies away from the atrocities of war or the abject levels of racial discrimination against black Americans and American Indians, the novel never settles into any form of judgement or hopelessness. Instead the story radiates hope, courage, friendship, love and the prospect of a better future.

As usual, Sebastian Barry’s prose is exquisite and his writing profoundly moving, evocative and humorous. It is a novel that stays with you well after you finished reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for this advanced copy.

The Newer World by Sebastian Barry, is set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, a world Barry visited last in his fantastic Days Without End from 2016. A decade later, and a few years later novelistically, The Newer World is the story of Tennyson Bouguereau and characters from that earlier novel (though reading the first novel is not a prerequisite for enjoying this one).

Barry once again dazzles utterly, with his prose full of beauty and precision. His characterisation of Bouguereau is spot-on, and you are pulled through this well-crafted history easily. There are lines here you pause to re-read.

The Newer World then is another beautiful, brilliant novel by Barry, and if you loved Days Without End then you really must read this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Sebastian Barry is one of the great novelists of our time. Like many great novelists he is Irish. Hie lastest novel is up there with his best. While there are occasional Irish minor characters in this story, it is set, not in Ireland but in another of his favourite locations and time periods, America’s Deep South and during the American Civil War , the abolition of slavery, the gold rush and the Western Indian War. The story is told by Tennyson Bouguereau, a ‘Freed’ man as he and his sister, Rosalie, orphaned as infants, their father hanged off a blacknut tree, their mother purchased for 1200 dollars to work as a house-girl at Luther Magan’s West Tennessee farm. Which Tennyson consdered ‘was the main stroke of luck in this story so far.’ The time along with secondary characters who arrive later in the book, Thomas McNulty, John Cole and Winona, will be familiar to readers of Barry’s ‘Days Without End’ and ‘A Thousand Moons’. But ‘The Newer World’ is a stand alone novel (although it may return you to second readings of those previous novels!

It is a complex story and a sad one, but also a complete pleasure to read, not only because of Barry’s exquisite prose, but also because of the love you will surely very quickly find for gentle giant Tennyson, stroppy Rosalie, and their friends, many of them kind. Between the book-end Part of ‘freed’ slaves’ having to negotiate their way through a world where freedom is a constant struggle in a world where racism is engrained, and a very sad end, there is a central Part where Tennyson, a natural singer, travels to Nashville to join a choir of freeblack men and women. There he meets Minnie, the choir’s lead singer, and George, an ex-soldier. Both become central to his life. The choir goes on tour and then to England, but when they return, George decides to rejoin the army to fight the Western Indian War and Tennyson makes a strange choice to go with him, leaving Minnie, the love of his life behind. The final Part is an ending, a newer world, Tennyson a different man in some ways, but with his losses so deep that the reader, if like me, will continue to think about his story long after the book is finished. Thankyou to Sebastian Barrry for another wonderful story, Faber and Faber, and Netgalley for an advance digital copy.

This is the third book Sebastian Barry has set during and after the American civil war and this has some of the characters from earlier novels. However the narrative focuses on Tennyson Bouguereau and a key part is the way in which Barry has created a unique voice for him, which reminded me of other books like Demon Copperhead or The Catcher in the Rye, where the distinctive voice is central even though of course the plots are very different.

The son of slaves Tennyson does not have a pleasant or easy life, and the moments of pleasure and calm, which include a trip to England as part of a choir, are overshadowed by the many misfortunes and pains that he encounters on his travels, mostly in the American south.

There are references to the Odyssey throughout and Tennyson has a picaresque journey throughout the novel which highlights the many injustices on which this 'newer world' was founded which resonate today.

Not an easy read, but a good read. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

I read Old God's Time a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so I was very pleased to get an ARC of The Newer World. I haven't read any of the previous books but I don't think that really matters.
Tennyson's life story is definitely not an easy read, given he is born poor, a slave and at the time of the American Civil War. We follow his journey through the USA and across to England then returning to the US. It's quite a harrowing read, although not graphic, the author really does let you know the hardships and brutality that these people endured. Extremely well written and very easy to create pictures in your mind (I've cast the whole film).
I do admire this author's work and some of the phrases and sentences he uses will stick with me. They made me pause and think and that's always the sign of a good book



Review on Bluesky and Facebook Group

If you've read any Sebastian Barry books in the past you'll know you are in for a treat.
Travelling across the south after the US civil war, Tennyson Bouguereau try to understand his new world and his place in it.
This is well written, absorbing and will keep you turning pages into the night, highly recommended.

‘The Newer World’ is a beautifully written novel set in the aftermath of the American Civil War at the centre of which is freed slave Tennyson Bouguereau. Sebastian Barry’s setting and focus is similar to his earlier ‘Days Without End’ (one of my all-time favourites) and ‘A Thousand Moons’; important characters from these stories appear again in Barry’s latest novel. However, ‘The Newer World’ reads equally well as a stand-alone work.

Barry’s ability to describe timeless feelings and explore themes of universal interest so eloquently is nowhere more apparent than in this story. From farmhand to singer to soldier, we see how Tennyson responds to the opportunities he is given, sometimes wisely and sometimes not, all the while recognising that his people are ‘so far down the scale there was no scale down there’ and that ‘Freed not the same as free.’

A sense of tremendous fortitude is conveyed through Tennyson as he ruminates that, ‘A year can feel like a long time to live through, but afterwards, what is it? It has only the thickness of a snowflake’. His careful consideration of his experiences and his lack of self-pity is a hugely endearing feature. Tennyson has to bear all manner of burdens but is also able to take joy from the everyday: his singing, his friendships, his horse, his studies. The ending of the novel chimes poignantly with the poet Tennyson’s concluding line of ‘Ulysses’ in which the eponymous hero, much like ‘our’ Tennyson, still experiencing difficult circumstances, vows ’To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’ A wonderful read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Tennyson Bouguereau, narrator of this compulsive heady story, spends his life demonstrating the simple fact that 'freed is not the same as free' in the post- America Civil War era that we have already visited with Barry in Days without End and A Thousand Moons. Tennyson is a twin of Rosalee, and their father is hung before they are born for little reason. They grow up working hard and Tennyson is given the opportunity to leave the farm behind and to improve himself with learning and singing in Nashville. His adventures bring him little joy but close friendships that dictate his life's journey from then on.

Thomas McNulty, John Cole and Winona their adopted daughter reappear in this book, and it's good to catch up with them again, as different facets of the same period and stories are explored this time around.

Tennyson finds little comfort in his life, his direction and fortunes change over time but he just keeps on, in a long meditative exploration of life as a freed slave in the south, and what it might be to break free of the confines of the society he finds himself in. It's hypnotic, lovely prose from start to finish, and like all Barry's books the characters stay with you after the end.