Eamon Redmond is a judge in Ireland’s high court. When the novel opens, he is reconsidering his decision in a complex case and at the same time getting ready to leave for his summer house in Cush. The novel follows him back and forth in time as he examines his relationships with his deceased father and his wife.
His wife Carmel complains twice in the novel that he is distant, and she finds him unknowable. Toíbín presents us with a description of his everyday actions and key moments in his life, but we never understand how he feels about these things. However, there is a warmer ending to this novel, in which there seems to be human interaction in his future.
The descriptions of the Irish coastline, where Toíbín himself spent every summer, are beautiful. And sad, because the landscape is changing—the cliffs are being eaten by the sea.
This is Toíbín’s second novel. It is moody, sometimes a little funny, but mostly sad. As with Toíbín’s character, I felt a bit removed from it.
What? Me Read? 
I enjoyed this one a lot, but felt I didn’t get as emotionally involved with Eamon as I usually do when Toibin is writing about women – maybe that’s to do with my own sex rather than his writing, though.
I hadn’t thought of that, but maybe that’s true for me, too.
[I tried posting this yesterday but Word Press wasn’t cooperativeif It did go through please delete!]
I’m a big fan of Toibin’s writing, so I was particularly interested in your review. Although Heather Blazing is very well done (Toibin’s a brilliant writer & Eamon is a very skillful creation), it’s not one of my favorites. Like FictionFan, I felt rather detached from the main characters but, perhaps, that’s Toibin’s point; i.e., Eamon himself is an emotionally suppressed, detached kind of guy; just as Eamon removes himself emotionally from the passions around him (as I recall, his wife on her death bed isn’t even sure he loves her), Toibin’s prose removes/detaches us from Eamon; i.e. the style echos the subject (if that makes any sense!)
Yes, I think we’re supposed to feel detached from Eamon.
You are right. The first one went into the spam queue and I didn’t notice it. It’s funny that it did. None of your other comments have.