The Visit

Reviews / Votes

'The Visit is an engrossing and tender portrait of a small town under pressure ... Stark and elemental - at the heart of the novel is a sort of quiet yearning and a longing for love and for completion that makes Neil Tully's novel so brilliant and intriguing' -- Colm Toibin 'Compassionate but clear-eyed, brimming with insight and emotional intelligence, this is a novel whose characters will linger with you long after you've closed the pages' -- Colin Walsh * author of Kala * 'What a delight it is to read such a wonderful story, written so beautifully. Spare, authentic, effortlessly lyrical, it is a stunning novel, the work of a writer of the first order' -- Donal Ryan 'Once in a while, you read a novel so accomplished that you want to read the author's backlist but, to your surprise, it turns out to be a debut. That's how good Neil Tully's The Visit is. Combining great storytelling with lyrical writing, this deserves to be on everyone's must-read list for 2026' -- John Boyne 'An exquisite and powerful debut novel from a compelling new voice in Irish fiction' -- Joseph O'Connor 'An utterly absorbing and hugely readable novel, The Visit is a story that captures a transitional time in Irish history so incredibly well, that at times I felt I was watching it up close. Field is a compelling protagonist, flawed, human and meticulously drawn. I was gripped from the start. The writing is so good' -- Elaine Feeney * author of How to Build a Boat * 'A strong debut that showcases both the viciousness and salvation of community' -- Sheila Armstrong * author of Falling Animals * 'Intrigue boils beneath the rural calm of this elegant novel; Neil Tully masterfully pulls the reader into a world where menace and the humdrum co-mingle uneasily. The prose is intelligent, gorgeous and empathic; the atmosphere subtly unsettling. The Visit is an accomplished, fully formed debut' -- Nuala O'Connor * author of Seaborne and NORA * 'The Visit makes an incision into 1960s New Ross as Ireland readies to welcome President Kennedy, and defiant Patrick Hatten toils under the weight of his family's past - and the town's judgment. A portrait of an Ireland still rooted in tradition, yet hopeful for change, The Visit is an engrossing novel filled with rich prose, compassion and a tension that drives the narrative to the very last page' -- Charleen Hurtubise * author of The Polite Act of Drowning and Saoirse * 'Neil Tully is a deeply humane writer. There's great lyric beauty in The Visit, but there's real ballast here as well' -- Sean Farrell * author of Frogs For Watchdogs * 'Neil Tully's tremendous first novel has been, for me, the surprise of the summer. The Visit is a sheer delight, a considerable feat of the imagination, a proper story beautifully, delicately written and gripping from first page to last. Even in a country already popping at the seams with fine literature, this debut offering must be one of the year's standouts. It announces Neil as a writer of clearly considerable talent, and deserves to fly with critics and readers alike' -- Billy O'Callaghan * author of My Coney Island Baby *