As the ghost light burns in an empty theatre, so in a dingy boarding house, an old woman, somewhat sozzled with gin, burns with the memories of herself as a young actress engaged to Ireland's greatest playwright, Synge, who died so many years ago. O'Connor with his Irish gift for language breathes life into their story using the novelist's prerogative to imagine and invent. If you've read his Star of the Sea (bwl 28), this is as good.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 60 Spring 2011 ) |
