Centering around celebrated Irish poet Phil McDaragh, who was lauded in public but was carelessly selfish at home, three generations of McDaragh women must contend with inheritances—poetic wonder, abandonment and a sustaining love—in this intricately woven tapestry of longing, betrayal and hope. - (Baker & Taylor)
Books We LoveTIMEThe MillionsLiterary HubThe Times - (WW Norton)
Nell McDaragh never knew her grandfather, the celebrated Irish poet Phil McDaragh. But his love poems seem to speak directly to her. Restless and wryly self-assured, at twenty-two Nell leaves her mother Carmel’s orderly home to find her own voice as a writer (mostly online, ghost-blogging for an influencer) and to live a poetical life. As she chases obsessive love, damage, and transcendence, in Dublin and beyond, her grandfather’s poetry seems to guide her home.Nell’s mother, Carmel McDaragh, knows the magic of her Daddo’s poetry too well—the kind of magic that makes women in their nighties slip outside for a kiss and then elope, as her mother Terry had done. In his poems to Carmel, Phil envisions his daughter as a bright-eyed wren ascending in escape from his hand. But it is Phil who departs, abandoning his wife and two young daughters. Carmel struggles to reconcile “the poet” with the father whose desertion scars her life, along with that of her fiercely dutiful sister and their gentle, cancer-ridden mother. To distance herself from this betrayal, Carmel turns inward, raising Nell, her daughter, and one trusted love, alone.The Wren, the Wren - (WW Norton)
The GatheringApeirogonActressThe Wall Street JournalWashington PostThe Wall Street JournalThe Green RoadWashington PostThe New YorkerThe Green RoadThe Times (UK) - (WW Norton)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Phil McDaragh may have been one of Ireland's most celebrated poets, but as a husband and father, he was a cad. Phil stormed out of his marriage as his wife was dying of cancer, deserting her and their two daughters, Imelda and Carmel. This abandonment will have repercussions for generations. The story is told primarily in the voices of single-mother Carmel and her adult daughter, Nell, who suffer from their inability to form healthy romantic or familial relationships. Nell can't break free from a psychologically and sexually abusive affair, while Carmel flounders in a sedate relationship with a nice but uninspiring man, only to walk out on him during his own health crisis. The paradox of Phil's legacy informs Nell's and Carmel's definition of love for each other as well as potential partners. Man Booker Prize and Carnegie Medal winner Enright's luminous examination of the fallout from parental rejection and the emotional toll it exacts over time evokes the profound sense of confusion, mistrust, and denial those involved experience. While Carmel and Nell have different reactions to the often surreal McDaragh family trauma, both are indelibly scarred by this seminal act of betrayal. Enriched by searing if beautiful poetry, Enright's beseeching novel thrums with desire, heartache, and connection. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.
