Camarade: A Masterful Dual Timeline Novel from Celebrated Irish Poet

NOMINATED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2026

'All things considered, I wonder if shooting that policeman made me the man that I am?'

In this masterful new work, award-winning author Theo Dorgan has written a philosophical thriller of extraordinary depth. An Irishman in Paris considers the weight and impact of a single violent act that forced him to flee Ireland forty years ago. When Vincent, a young Algerian friend, suggests Joseph should write his life story, Joseph embarks on a self-examination that will lay bare, perhaps only to himself, a singular and surprising life.

Set against the evocative backdrops of Paris and Cork, Camarade explores a life shaped by one fateful moment and the quiet violence of self-reckoning. The story unfolds in a dual timeline: Joseph's present-day existence in Paris, with its muted rhythms and introspective solitude, and his youth in 1960s Ireland, raised on his grandfather's stories of the Flying Column and revolution.

After one violent act, Joseph finds himself exiled in France during the turbulent decades of the Algerian Crisis and May '68, where he discovers comradeship, unexpected freedom in careful neutrality.

As Joseph writes, he confronts the central question of his life: did a single act of life-changing violence make him who he is, or was he always destined to become this man?

Written in precise, contemplative prose, Camarade examines how we construct meaning from our past while questioning the nature of authenticity and self-awareness. At once, an intimate character study, a meditation on history, violence and the enduring impact of our choices. This novel asks us to consider the space between who we imagine we are destined to be and who we eventually become. Moving with the tension of a thriller while exploring profound philosophical questions, Camarade confirms Theo Dorgan's place as one of our most thoughtful and elegant literary voices.