Keegan's literary allegiance is signalled in the first story in this collection, when we find the main character reading Chekhov. Like Chekhov, Keegan has the ability to sum up a life, or a significant chunk of one, in apparently trivial, quotidian events. In the title story, a priest is tormented by having to offciate at a marriage. Later, he meets an unlikely counterpart in a Chinese healer, and experiences a kind of epiphany. It sounds simple to summary, but its the careful arrangement of events which gives the story its power. All the stories are set in rural Ireland. They tell of harsh, lonely lives, alleviated by drink or dreams, in a voice that is lyrical, thoughtful, but with a thick strain of melancholy running through it. Keegan has won many writing awards including the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.

posted Aug 20, 2008 at 3:42PM

 Add a Comment