The Blackwater Lightship

The Blackwater Lightship is a 1999 novel written by Irish novelist Colm Tóibín. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Tóibín conceived the book while traveling in Spain and, as he did not have access to a typewriter, bought a pen and notebook, which prompted his return to writing in Longhand. Plot summary The story is set in Dublin and County Wexford and described from the viewpoint of Helen, a successful school principal living with her husband and two children in Ireland. She learns one day, that her brother Declan, who is homosexual, has been ill with AIDS for years, and refused to tell her until then. He asks her to deliver their mother and grandmother the news. This presents a challenge to Helen as she has had minimal contact with the two women due to deeply buried conflicts relating to Helen's past and her father's sudden death when she was a child.