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? 