'The importance of this magnificent book is the beauty of its writing, the mastery of its telling. David Park is a great writer, that's the truth.' Gelnn Patterson'The Truth Commissioner is a fine, crafted novel, but it is also an important book ... his best writing to date ... He sets out to examine what it means to be alive - and does so in fictions that are subtle, understated, not without a hint of menace and always courageous' Irish TimesAdapted as a TV drama starring Roger Allam for BBC 2Henry Stanfield, the newly arrived Truth Commissioner for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Northern Ireland, is troubled by his estrangement from his daughter, and struggling with the consequences of his infidelities. Francis Gilroy, veteran Republican and recently appointed government minister, risks losing what feels tantalisingly close to his grasp.In America, Danny and his partner plan for the arrival of their first child, happily oblivious to what is about to pull him back to Belfast and rupture the life they have started together. Retired detective James Fenton, on his way to an orphanage in Romania with a van full of supplies, will soon be forced to confront what he has come to think of as his betrayal, years before, of a teenage boy.In a society trying to heal the scars of the past with the salve of truth and reconciliation, these four men's lives become linked in a way they could never have imagined.