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One Boat

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One Boat

By: Jonathan Buckley
Narrated by: Caroline Ford
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About this listen

On losing her father, Teresa returns to a small town on the Greek coast – the same place she visited when grieving her mother nine years ago. She immerses herself again in the life of the town, observing the inhabitants going about their business, a quiet backdrop for her reckoning with herself. An episode from her first visit resurfaces vividly – her encounter with John, a man struggling to come to terms with the violent death of his nephew.

Soon Teresa encounters some of the people she met last time around: Petros, an eccentric mechanic, whose life story may or may not be part of John's; the beautiful Niko, a diving instructor; and Xanthe, a waitress in one of the cafés on the leafy town square. They talk about their longings, regrets, the passing of time, their sense of who they are.

Artfully constructed, absorbing and insightful, One Boat is a brilliant novel grappling with questions of identity, free will, guilt and responsibility.

©2025 Jonathan Buckley (P)2025 Fitzcarraldo Editions Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

‘A novel of quiet brilliance and sly humour, packed with mystery and indeterminacy. The way in which the book interleaves Teresa’s relationship to her mother, her involvement in an amateur murder investigation, and an account of a love affair, raises questions about grief, obsession, personhood and human connectivity we found to be as stimulating as they are complex.’ — Booker Prize 2025 judges ‘A strange, sly and self-assured novel, in which both nothing and everything happens…. There is a great deal of freight on board One Boat, but it packs so neatly into 168 pages that it never feels overburdened. This is a novel to be returned to as a place in which to think, just as Teresa returns to her Greek town.’ — Frances Wilson, Times Literary Supplement ‘Exactly why Buckley is not already revered and renowned as a novelist in the great European tradition remains a mystery that will perhaps only be addressed at that final godly hour when all the overlooked authors working in odd and antique modes will receive their just rewards.’ — Ian Sansom, Times Literary Supplement
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Some good writing but doesn't pass the "so what" test. Great example that just good writing doesn't make a good novel. There are passages with some interesting reflexions; there is a failed attempt to write about the grief, but you just end up wondering where is he going with all this before understanding, sooner than later, that he's going absolutely nowhere.

Couldn't wait for it to end

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Continuing to make my way through the booker prize longlist. This is a character driven book there is no overarching plot. There are lots of characters that contribute mini stories. I found this book a little dull. But the writing is very good and descriptive.

One boat

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