Four letters of love

the long version

William Coughlan abandons his wife and his son, Nicholas, to paint the pictures he believes God has commanded. He disappears into the west of Ireland on a mission, following a prompting that may or may not have been real, as he daubs the canvas and stares at the Atlantic light. On an island off the West Coast, a boy gifted in music falls mute and lame while playing with his sister. It is a moment that scars the heart of Isabel Gore, as she helps her brother, Sean, home across the island to meet the disbelief and sorrow of her parents. Two moments, two stories, on either side of the country, each apparently as random and uncertain as the other. Four Letters of Love brings them together in a lyrical effusion of bracing freshness and power. This is a novel about destiny, acceptance, the tragedies and miracles of everyday life, and about how all our stories meet in the end. It is a novel about the fated love of Isabel and Nicholas.