The Gathering by Anne Enright

Fiction - 3.5 stars

As part of my personal challenge to read all Man Booker Prize-winning novels, I bought The Gathering on a whim.  Anne Enright won the Booker prize in 2007 for this work of James Joyce-like drama. In this portrait of a large Irish family, the nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their drifter brother, Liam, who has recently drowned in the sea near Liverpool, England. Veronica, his older sister, goes to collect the body, all the while reliving the secret she shares with him—something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. It is a novel about love, hate, disappointment, and how secrets and memories affect us until the end. While it is as well-written as Joyce, it is also as depressing and hopeless as Joyce, giving the book a truly Irish quality.

*Note: The Man-Booker Prize is the British award for literary fiction, similar to the Pulitzer in the US.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Biography - 5 stars

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I am posting on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. This beautiful tale of the childhood of an American-born child of Irish immigrants (who then return to Ireland to raise their children in Limerick) is a haunting story of unfathomable poverty out of which the author triumphs. I cried when I read this book, as I would reading any true Irish story. It touched me as few books, especially non-fiction, have.

Lion of Ireland & Pride of Lions by Morgan Llywelyn

Fiction - 3.5 stars - Any fan of Celtic history will like these books. They are decent stories of Brian Boru, who united the tribes of Ireland, and his descendents. The historical aspects are well dramatized, and the personal experiences are described in vivid detail. I really enjoyed them (as did George!) and would recommend them for an easy read.

1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn

Fiction - 4 stars - Good historical fiction is my passion, and this book falls into that category. This story revolves around a teenage Titanic suvivor who loses his family in the sinking and returns to Ireland at the brink of the 1916 rebellion. The main characters of the rebellion (like Patrick Pearse) are portayed from this young boy's point of view, and the story develops into Llywelyn's absolute best work.