![]() Cover of first edition | |
Author | Patrick Radden Keefe |
---|---|
Audio read by | Matthew Blaney [1] |
Cover artist | Stefano Archetti (photo) |
Language | English |
Subject | The Troubles |
Publisher | William Collins |
Publication date | November 1, 2018 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 513 |
Awards | 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing |
ISBN | 9780008159252 |
OCLC | 1063745342 |
941.670824092 | |
LC Class | DA995.B5 K44 2018 |
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland is a 2018 book by writer and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. It focuses on the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It spent six weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list and received widespread critical acclaim.
Say Nothing's subject is The Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville as a central focus. The book describes the lives of Dolours Price, Brendan Hughes, Gerry Adams, and Jean McConville's children. Through these figures, it offers a history of the Troubles as a whole: the civil rights movement and the turn to violence at the end of the 1960s, the Provisional IRA's bombing campaign, the 1981 hunger strike, the peace process and the opposition it faced within the republican movement, and the post-conflict struggle to understand crimes like McConville's murder. The book also details the efforts of the Belfast Project to research and investigate the events of the conflict. Keefe began researching and writing the book after reading the obituary for Dolours Price in 2013. [2]
The book's title is taken from the poem "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" by Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney from his collection North (1975). [2]
Say Nothing was first published by the William Collins imprint of HarperCollins on November 1, 2018. It was later published in the US by Doubleday on February 26, 2019. [3]
The book debuted at number five on The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction best-sellers list on March 17, 2019. [4] It spent six weeks on the list. [5] Say Nothing also debuted at number seven on The New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction best-sellers list on March 17, 2019, [6] and spent six weeks on the list. [7]
According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on twenty-two critic reviews, with eleven being "rave" and eleven being "positive". [8] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (4.54 out of 5) from the site which was based on four critic reviews. [9] On Bookmarks May/June 2019 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a
(4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "All in all, Say Nothing is a “riveting account” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) sure to interest amateur historians". [10] [11]
Jennifer Szalai of The New York Times wrote, "Keefe's narrative is an architectural feat, expertly constructed out of complex and contentious material, arranged and balanced just so." [12]
Maureen Corrigan of NPR enthusiastically wrote, "Keefe is a storyteller who captures the complexities of a historical moment by digging deep into the lives of people on all sides of the conflict." [13] Corrigan concludes, "At the end of his panoramic book, which gathers together history, politics and biography, Keefe tightens the focus back to the mystery of McConville's abduction and murder. And, as in the most ingenious crime stories, Keefe unveils a revelation — lying, so to speak, in plain sight — that only further complicates the moral dimensions of his tale." [13]
Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post described how Say Nothing is "a cautionary tale, [that] speaks volumes — about the zealotry of youth, the long-term consequences of violence and the politics of forgetting." [14]
The Economist noted, "The discerning skill with which Mr. Radden Keefe gets inside these characters' minds may unsettle some readers, but it is also his book's strength. He shows how people who in peacetime might just have been strong-willed or colourful types came to condone or perpetrate the unspeakable." [15]
Stephen Phillips of The Los Angeles Times praised the book saying, "'Say Nothing' powerfully documents a society benumbed by trauma attempting to reckon with the abyss that engulfed it." [16]
The book was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by both the New York Times Book Review [17] and the Washington Post . [18] It won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. [19] In 2024, the New York Times named Say Nothing the 19th best book of the 21st century. [20]
Disney began filming a 10 part TV adaptation of the same name in 2023. [21] [22]
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. Since October 12, 1931, The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor of stage and screen. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a member of Dublin's Focus Theatre, and came to the attention of film audiences as one of the close collaborators of director Neil Jordan. He is an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Tony Award nominee, a two-time BAFTA Award winner, and a three-time Irish Film and Television (IFTA) Award winner.
Jean McConville was a woman from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and secretly buried in County Louth in the Republic of Ireland in 1972 after being accused by the IRA of passing information to British forces.
Dolours Price was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer.
Marian Price, also known by her married name as Marian McGlinchey, is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer.
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 historical non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. Set in Chicago during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, it tells the story of World’s Fair architect Daniel Burnham and of H. H. Holmes, a criminal figure widely considered the first serial killer in the United States. Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the film rights in 2010. The concept has since been in development hell.
Divis Tower is a 20-floor, 200-foot (61 m) tall tower in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in Divis Street, which is the lower section of the Falls Road. It is currently the fifteenth-tallest building in Belfast.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 is a 2006 non-fiction book by Lawrence Wright, a journalist for The New Yorker. Wright examines the origins of the militant organization Al-Qaeda, the background for various terrorist attacks and how they were investigated, and the events that led to the September 11 attacks.
Columbine is a non-fiction book written by Dave Cullen and published by Twelve on April 6, 2009. It is an examination of the Columbine High School massacre, on April 20, 1999, and the perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The book covers two major storylines: the killers' evolution leading up to the attack, and the survivors' struggles with the aftermath over the next decade. Chapters alternate between the two stories. Graphic depictions of parts of the attack are included, in addition to the actual names of friends and family.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) is a non-fiction book by American author Rebecca Skloot. It was the 2011 winner of the National Academies Communication Award for best creative work that helps the public understanding of topics in science, engineering or medicine.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (2010) is a historical study of the Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. The book was widely acclaimed by critics.
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx is a 2003 narrative non-fiction study of urban life by American writer Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.
Anthony McIntyre is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer, writer and historian.
Patrick Radden Keefe is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—Chatter,The Snakehead,Say Nothing,Empire of Pain, and Rogues—and has written extensively for many publications, including The New Yorker, Slate, and The New York Times Magazine. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Milkman is a historical psychological fiction novel written by the Northern Irish author Anna Burns. Set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the story follows an 18-year-old girl, "middle sister," who is harassed by an older married man known as "the milkman" and then as "Milkman". It is Burns's first novel to be published after Little Constructions in 2007, and is her third overall.
Three Women is a 2019 non-fiction book by Lisa Taddeo. It is her debut book and was published on July 9, 2019, by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It covers the sexual and emotional lives of three women from different backgrounds and regions of the United States. It debuted at number one on The New York Times non-fiction best sellers list and received mostly positive reviews from critics.
The Belfast Project was an oral history project on the Troubles based at Boston College in Massachusetts, U.S. The project began in 2000 and the last interviews were concluded in 2006. The interviews were intended to be released after the participants' deaths and serve as a resource for future historians.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) is a memoir by American attorney Bryan Stevenson that documents his career defending disadvantaged clients. The book, focusing on injustices in the United States judicial system, alternates chapters between documenting Stevenson's efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian and his work on other cases, including children who receive life sentences, and other poor or marginalized clients.
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty is a 2021 book by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book examines the history of the Sackler family, including the founding of Purdue Pharma, its role in the marketing of pharmaceuticals, and the family's central role in the opioid epidemic. The book followed Keefe's 2017 article on the Sackler family in The New Yorker, titled The Family That Built an Empire of Pain.
Say Nothing is an upcoming historical drama limited series created by Josh Zetumer for the American streaming service Disney+ and produced by FX Productions. Detailing four generations of life in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, it is an adaptation of Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe.