Books
by Anne Enright
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The Forgotten Waltz |
The story could hardly be more banal: Gina and Sean fall in love (well, lust), leave their spouses and end up in the same boring domesticity they'd escaped from. Add the context of Dublin towards the end of the boom years - property a constant counterpoint - and Sean's problematic daughter and the plot does become thicker, while Enright's quirky insights are always a pleasure. But what is she trying to say? Compared with her wonderful The Gathering (bwl 44), disappointing.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 78 Autumn 2015) |
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The Gathering |
Liam has died, ostensibly of drink but maybe of other things too. His sister Victoria, closest to him of all eight siblings, retraces the steps leading to his death and in the process uncovers layers of this chaotic Irish family's history, some real, some with the potency of imagined truth. Hopping from present to past, fantasy to reality, questioning the reliability of memory and how it affects our beliefs, this is a gloriously rich brew.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 44 February 2008) |
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The Green Road |
Rosaleen summons her four adult children to a final Christmas in their old home on Ireland's west coast. Reluctantly they arrive, Dan who is gay from NY, aid-worker Emmet from Mali, Hanna a resting actress with her baby from Dublin and Constance mother-of-three who stayed behind. Almost immediately they revert to their sibling roles, each vying for attention from a mother who never quite knew how to love. It's funny, sad, gossipy and painfully true.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 81 Summer 2016) |
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The Wren, The Wren |
This was a quirky gambol through multi-generational dysfunction in an Irish family, all talented and educated, but deeply affected in some cases by minor celebrity, and in others by excessive introspection, depression and poor self-esteem. If this sounds bleak, don't be deterred. The writing is assured, with unexpected wry humour in its observations of family affections, disaffections and loyalties, and the bird metaphor quite literally extends and binds the whole story to a satisfying conclusion.
(Margaret Teh - bwl 111 Winter 2024) |
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