Kindle Price: $11.99

Save $6.00 (33%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Deirdre Madden
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Time Present and Time Past Kindle Edition

by Deirdre Madden (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 130 ratings
See all formats and editions
This Orange Prize Finalist novel is both a meditation on time and memory and “a deeply moving portrait of domestic and family life” in Ireland (The Sunday Telegraph).
 
Ireland, 2006. The economic miracle known as the Celtic Tiger has swept the country into a euphoria of wealth and transformation. But for forty-seven-year-old Dubliner Fintan Buckley, the race toward progress is also a troubling purge of the past. His young daughter, Lucy, and teenage son, Niall, are growing up in an Ireland that is changing as fast as they are.
 
More and more, Fintan feels the rush of time “like a kind of unholy wind”—so much so that he begins to experience strange, dreamlike visions. Is that his own face he sees on another man? Is that his sister staring back at him from a late-Victorian photograph?
 
A resonant portrait of a middle-class family in pre-crash Ireland, Deirdre Madden’s latest novel “is a reminder that we’d do best . . . to savor what we can of those passing moments Eliot called the ‘still point of the turning world’” (The New York Times Sunday Book Review).
 
“An outstanding book.” —Irish Independent
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    235 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Europa Editions
  5. Publication date
    May 6, 2014
  6. Reading age
    18 years and up
  7. File size
    4750 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A deeply moving portrait of domestic and family life.” ­— Sunday Telegraph
 
“An outstanding book.” — Irish Independent
 
“The book is beautifully written and gently invites us to consider the shifting patterns of time.' — The Scotsman

About the Author

Born in Ireland in 1960, Deidre Madden studied at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of East Anglia. She is the author of nine novels, including The Birds of Innocent Wood, which won the Somerset Maugham Prize, One by One in the Afternoon, and Molly Fox’s Birthday, both of which were shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She lives in Paris.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07PPCBG6H
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Europa Editions (May 6, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 6, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4750 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 235 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 130 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Deirdre Madden

Deirdre Madden

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
130 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sharon Isch
5.0 out of 5 stars The life and times of a Dublin family, from prosperity to crash and beyond
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is acclaimed Irish novelist Deirdre Madden's ninth novel... and her third to become a finalist for the UK's Orange Prize. As well it should be. It's the story of a 47-year-old legal advisor at a Dublin import/export firm named Fintan Buckley, his three generations of family and their strong attachment to one another--spanning the time from the days of Ireland's prosperity to its spectacular economic crash and its impact on each of them. A beautifully crafted tale with believable characters I greatly enjoyed spending time with and highly recommend.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
R. M. Peterson
4.0 out of 5 stars Family and history and memory
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2017
Verified Purchase
On the surface, this is a quiet novel that deals with the rather mundane unfolding of life in an upscale Irish family in Dublin. The core family is the Buckleys -- Fintan, 47, a lawyer, his wife Colette, and their three children. Three other family members round out the cast -- Fintan's mother Joan, his sister Martina, and his aunt Beth. Via short chapters told from the point of view of differing family members, most of the novel follows them through three months in 2006. Nothing exciting happens. There are business lunches, shopping trips, family dinners, business meetings, and trips to the zoo. Domesticity reigns. The marvel is that Deirdre Madden holds the reader's attention through it all. Whatever else might be said about TIME PRESENT AND TIME PAST, it is extremely well crafted. Still, until the last twenty pages or so, I was wondering what the point of it all might be.

In those last twenty pages, Madden fast-forwards in time, sketching out what will (or might) happen to the eight main characters over the next decade. And then she takes the reader back to the early 1900's and Fintan's great-grandmother, who died in childbirth on the day of the Easter Rising. A century later, all that remains of her is a photograph of her as a young woman; even her name has been lost to history. Also in those last twenty pages, Fintan and Martina travel to Northern Ireland to visit their cousin Edward, whom they had not seen in forty years. Fintan realizes that he feels infinitely closer to Edward than he does to his colleague at work with whom he spends time every day. The novel's ending provokes reflection.

And on reflection, I discern three themes playing out under the novel's placid surface. First, there are the ties of family, which no matter how strong they are can be unraveled and rearranged by the vicissitudes of history. Second, how events are experienced and remembered differently among the members of a family. And third, how even in a close family, everyone has his or her own secrets.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Tempe Mindspring
3.0 out of 5 stars A Good night time before bed novel ( maybe)
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
Along with other reviewers, I agree that this was a gentle read. My problem with the book was in presentation of the story. After investment into this story, I expected more depth & personal insights voiced by the characters then what was delivered. The ending for me fell " flat" as if the author was in a hurry to finish the book without really developing the ending. For me, this left the the impression of why did I even bother with this book
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Calebini
5.0 out of 5 stars I recommend this story for thoughtful readers
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
The story is billed as an account of quiet lives, and I would agree. I read at night, and the book was suited for that use--quiet, thoughtful, and ultimately, a positive account of delightful characters. I recommend this story for thoughtful readers. I would add thta I am likely at the stage of life to appreciate this tale, I would guess younger readers might find it a little too quiet.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
DJG
4.0 out of 5 stars Flows of Time
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
In "Time Present and Time Past," Deirdre Madden explores her characters' concepts of time in the course of an intriguing depiction of Ireland's emotional and natural environment, as well as its history. In the end, two key characters, Fintan and Martina, arrive at a somewhat satisfying measure of self-understanding.
Helpful
 Report
Michael J. McDermott
5.0 out of 5 stars lovely little book
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
I love the Irish writers and the way they use the language. "Soft," like weather in Ireland. Fast, enjoyable read. The inter-generational relationships are very Irish, but universally relevant at the same time.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
fergus moylan
3.0 out of 5 stars A feel good book. Good for the beach
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2014
Verified Purchase
A feel good book. Good for the beach. Her other book, Molly Fox's Birthday, was so good that maybe the bar on my expectations had been set too high.
Helpful
 Report
a customer
1.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing scene
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
Be aware, there's a scene in this book that might be a trigger for some readers.

*SPOILER ALERT*

If you are triggered by rape scenes, you might want to pass on this book. I wish I had, though I skipped over the scene as best I could. But even apart from that scene, I regret the time I spent reading Time Present and Time Past. It left me completely unmoved, partly because the narrator sets the reader at one step removed from the characters, so that consequently I never felt connected with them; I was observing them instead of feeling with them. Though frankly, with perhaps one exception, none of the characters are people that I particularly wanted to connect with; there's nothing awful about them, except for the main character's mother, but I didn't find anything compelling about them either.

I had hoped that this book would leave me with a desire to explore the author's other works, but I will certainly not be doing that.
7 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Mrs A
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book. Very observant author
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
Great book. Very observant author. I read this at a friend's house and enjoyed it so much that I bought this copy for another friend.
Report
Leitir
4.0 out of 5 stars Deep echoes of at least a recent past
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a book that closes very much as it opens, yet takes the reader and characters on a timeless journey in between. I could tell you about the end without giving anything fundamental away, such is the sense of discomfiting ease that the book engenders. It opens and closes in settings that would be familiar to almost any Irish person - a café in Dublin, and a snug hostelry somewhere between Armagh and Dublin, respectively. The characters and story that are woven around them resonate so deeply with my own experience that at times I half wondered if the author had researched my own background. This is a book about family, about Ireland before the crash - it is a book that peeks somewhat briefly and teasingly into the characters' lives after the crash. And I wonder if the author is challenging us to reflect on what the next chapter of the book will be in our own lives. Resonating as deeply as it does with anyone who has lived through the last 6 years, you cannot but reflect on your own experience during that time, and where we go now. Ending as uncertainly as it does, yet paradoxically in such a familiar way, the book nudges you slowly but surely on the next stage in that reflective journey.
I would have given 5 stars but feel that the carefully woven thread of narrative loses it way slightly, and temporarily, towards the end. For all that, a must read.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Marian2854
3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant read, just not gripping
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2014
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the way the characters were described in the book. I could identify with the characters who were believable. I felt drawn into their lives. The problem I had with the book is that ultimately I couldn't
see the point of it. I certainly didn't "get"
what the writer meant by the
photographs. If I hadn't read the summary
on the back sleeve of the book, the issue
of the photograps would have passed me
by. I definitely missed the hallucinations referred to on the back sleeve. Ultimately, I think the book's greatest asset will be its historical perspective on a time in Ireland just before our economic collapse. I think to read it in 50 years time would give the book a whole new perspective. However, I don't think I'd hold onto it for the sake of posterity.
Report
C. Campbell
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
Madden at her best. A novel of ordinary life made extradonary by the compassion and vision of the author, A return to form by one of Ireland's greatest living writers.
Report
Mrs. Judith A H Keenlyside
4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2013
Verified Purchase
. Deidre Madden writes delicately, economically, and vividly. Her characterisation is masterful and one would recognise her characters if one met them. Her descriptions of rooms and streets stay with one, and I would love to visit some of them!

This book, like Letty Fox's Birthday, has no powerful plot but the gentle story lives with one afterwards. Somehow her books stay in the memory long after the latest best seller has faded.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report