Eriu, the Dublin-based imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired The Visit, a ‘haunting and lyrical exploration of loyalty, guilt and the quiet tensions in a small Irish town’ by debut author Neil Tully. Publishing Director Deirdre Nolan pre-empted UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Simon Trewin at Simon Trewin Creative.
Set in 1963 against the backdrop of President John F. Kennedy’s historic visit to New Ross, Sergeant Jim Field – a romantic, ailing policeman – is torn between progress and the past as he tries to balance domestic life with protecting Patrick Hatten, a volatile young man with a troubled past and a dangerous future. Neil Tully’s prose is spare yet deeply evocative, capturing the emotional weight of a community on the cusp of change.
Colm Tóibín has described it as ‘brilliant and intriguing’, Joseph O’Connor believes it is ‘an exquisite and powerful debut’, whilst Donal Ryan called it ‘spare, authentic, effortlessly lyrical’.
Neil Tully said: ‘The Visit is a novel about ordinary people during a historic month in twentieth-century Ireland, and I’m delighted to be working with everybody at Bonnier to turn this story into a book.’
Deirdre Nolan said: ‘Neil Tully’s stunning debut is a profoundly moving novel about memory, responsibility and the fragile threads that bind us. We are incredibly proud to publish this remarkable work.’
Simon Trewin said: ‘The Visit is already shaping up to be a very hot book in the run up to Frankfurt and I am thrilled to be adding Neil to my Irish list of literary stars.’
Neil Tully lives in Cork, where he works as a dentist. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Limerick. The Visit is his first book.
The Visit will be published in hardback, audio and eBook in March 2026.
