The Ninth Hour

Alice McDermott Bloomsbury €21

McDermott revisits familiar territory here, Irish-American families in Brooklyn in the early 20th century. The rich addition is a cast of nuns from the Little Nursing Sisters Of The Sick Poor. Drawn with humour and deep sympathy, these women deal with suicide, illness, infidelity and much more, and are by turns attentive, domineering or meddlesome. Touched by their ministrations are three generations of a family with roots in the Civil War era. Dealing in simple lives and small dramas, the prose displays an unerring sense of detail, mood, and emotion. A masterful Irish-American writer at her best. No wonder it has just been optioned by Hollywood producer Scott Rudin.