Set in rural Ireland, this is a lyrical book filled with the music of the fiddle and accordion, but with dark undertones. Will is haunted by his part in a tragedy that took place 40 years ago, in the troubled times of the 1920s. Given the subject matter, this could have been a very gloomy tale. It was lifted for me by the quality of the writing, and by the conclusion, which lays ghosts to rest, and brings a sort of hope.
Instead of crossing the yard to go home after leaving the kitchen, I go over to sit on the window sill for a little while. It happens automatically, a ritual, and by way of composing myself. Don't old habits die hard?
Anyway, I'd rather be out here looking in than on the inside, ill at ease and not knowing what to say. This is where I belong.
Then after supper, the new man inside strikes up the accordion, and his wife, his two children and his aunt, on cue, bluster onto the floor and flicker their feet to the reel.
