Wild Decembers Book

Philip Roth, the Great American Epic Novelist, has decreed that Edna O'Brien is "the most gifted woman now writing fiction in English". This is a major tribute for a writer who, for most of her career, has been sidelined into the rural, female Irish set, and thus has not been taken particularly seriously. It's time, then, that she was. With her latest offering Wild Decembers, O'Brien completes a compelling series of novels that depict contemporary Ireland in terms of its resonant history of folklore and fables and its lush, fertile landscapes. Joseph Brennan is the stern paterfamilias often to be found in the O'Brien domestic set-up. He is a farmer, who rules his local community from his mountain-top farmstead; his younger sister, Breege, acting as sidekick. When a new-fangled tractor arrives in the midst of this primitive setting, accompanied by its owner, Michael Bugler (now there's a name that speaks volumes for its author's intent), Joseph is threatened and Breege is seduced. "No better than a streetwalker," Joseph berates his sister on discovering her secret passion, before pummelling her with his fists. This is a story of elemental emotions pitted against a mythical backdrop dripping with acutely realised and deeply felt detail. O'Brien must take her place as a novelist who understands the sinister depths that underpin the impulse for possession. --Lilian PizzichiniRead More