Irish return to literary stage
Irish literature looks set for another big year, with new books from John Boyne, Roddy Doyle and Marian Keyes
Last year was a bumper year for Irish literature.
Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize for his haunting, dystopian novel, Prophet Song. Paul Murray made the shortlist with The Bee Sting, and on the longlist of 13 novels, Elaine Feeney’s How to Build a Boat and Sebastian Barry’s Old God’s Time also made the cut.
With a tiny population of just fivemillion people, the Emerald Isle has produced some of the world’s best writers.
From Samuel Beckett to Emma Donoghue, Irish authors are revered for their engagement with contemporary issues like gender dynamics, ability to blend historical and cultural depth with fresh narrative approaches, and exploration of Irish identity and culture.
This year looks set to continue the trend, starting with the return of John Boyne, one of the most highly accomplished novelists of his generation.
Over the course of three decades, he has published 15 novels for adults, six for younger readers, and a short story collection.
His most notable works, including A History of Loneliness (2014), The Heart’s Invisible Furies (2017), and A Ladder to the Sky (2018), have admirably accomplished the job of Irish writers: to reflect the worst elements of their society back at itself.
His latest book, Water, the first in a quartet of novellas named for the elements, is remarkable for its return to the essence of storytelling.
Written in a woman’s voice, the narrator assumes control from the opening sentence: “The first thing I do when I arrive on the island is change my name.”
She continues: “I’ve been Vanessa Carvin for a long time, 28 years, but I was Vanessa Hale for 24 years before that and there’s an unexpected comfort in reclaiming my birthright, which sometimes feels as if it was stolen from me, even though I was complicit in the crime.
“A few minutes later, I change it again, this time to Willow Hale. Willow is my middle name, and it seems prudent to take a further step in separating the woman I am now from the woman I once was.”
Seeking to distance herself from the world after the traumatic collapse of her life, Willow retreats to an isolated cottage on a small island off the West coast of Ireland. Having changed her name, she cuts her shoulder-length hair short, swapping her previous look for something practical and inconspicuous.
The austere cottage is without a TV or Wi-Fi.
“I’m not disappointed,” she says.
“If I am to live this hermetic existence, then it is best that nothing intrudes upon it. It will be a rare privilege to be so wilfully ignorant of the outside world and all its nonsense.”
Willow is dealing with the torturing pain of having discovered her husband’s terrible secret, and then seeing him jailed for crimes that people assume she has been complicit in and witnessing the destruction of her family.
Her first taste of water from the tap, which emerges brown before running clear, is shockingly cold.
“Taking a glass from the shelf, I fill it and drink. I cannot remember when I last experienced such purity. I drink more and feel something inside me spring to life. I wonder, could a person get drunk on this water?” she asks.
The isolated community, however, caught between traditional and modern ways of life, has its challenges.
A gay couple was hounded off the island, and a youngest son is forced to stay and work on his family’s farm instead of pursuing his own interests.
But there are positive notes too — the vicar who grew up in Benin City, and a talented young footballer who plans to defy his father’s wishes.
Willow encounters others on the island who are dealing with their own secrets and shame. One man seems to want her forgiveness, which she refuses to give.
This rebuttal helps her to firmly reject her husband’s pleas for forgiveness and finally commit to her own recovery.
Boyne’s reflective, cathartic tale of confronting pain and finding strength through seclusion is made all the more potent by his propulsive storytelling and adept handling of trauma, making Water a compelling exploration of recovery and resilience.
And there are many more highlights to look forward to. Roddy Doyle’s Paula Spencer makes a comeback in The Women Behind the Door.
This time, Paula has to help her daughter, Nicola, who wants to leave her husband and three daughters and also makes a shocking revelation that will leave Paula staggering.
Colm Tóibín’s Long Island is the sequel to his masterpiece and bestselling novel Brooklyn.
Readers are reunited with Eilis Lacey, a young Irishwoman immigrating to the US soon after World War 2, 20 years after the events of Brooklyn.
Kevin Barry’s The Heart in Winter is set in 1890s Montana.
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes is about fresh starts in Dublin.
The Amendments by Niamh Mulvey is a tale of three generations of women in Ireland, from the 1980s to the present day, and their individual coming of age experiences.
John Connolly returns to fantasy fiction in The Land Of Lost Things, in which an eight-year-old girl, Phoebe, lies in a coma while her mother reads aloud to her some of her favourite fairy stories in the hope they might resuscitate her.
Boyne’s reflective tale of confronting pain and finding strength through seclusion is made all the more potent by his propulsive storytelling