Ireland

Amy said, "I read Anne Enright's novel The Gathering for Ireland in the challenge. Here is a link to my review." Bonnie added, "I want to read the book now, after reading Amy's review, which ends with a fascinating quote."

There are so few people given us to love...We each love someone, even though they will die. And we keep loving them, even when they are not there to love anymore. And there is no logic or use to any of this, that I can see.

Anne Enright is one of Ireland’s most singular voices. The Gathering is a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family. The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him — something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations, her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in the body, not in the stars.
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Wendy also also thought this was a great book about Ireland. Here's her review.