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Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told: A Novel
Part human comedy and part mystery, Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told is an enthralling, masterful story about what holds a village together and what keeps people apart. When journalist Patrick Bracken returns to Gohen, the Irish village where he was born, he knows the eyes of the townspeople are on him. He has come home to investigate two deaths that happened decades earlier when he was a child, deaths that were ruled accidental. But Patrick knows—and believes the whole town knows—they were murders. He knows because he and his best friend, Mikey Lamb, were witnesses.
And so Patrick goes to see eighty-year-old Sam Howard, the lawyer who conducted the inquest into the death of missionary priest Jarlath Coughlin. As he questions Sam and Sam’s vibrant, loving, gossipy wife, Elsie, he seeks acknowledgment of a cover-up and an explanation of why the Protestant establishment would help conceal a crime among Catholics. During their give-and-take—about this and the nearly simultaneous shotgun death of Lawrence Gorman (aka Doul Yank)—what emerges from their collective memories are a pungent, wry portrait of village life in Ireland and a tangle of human relationships, some twisted and some that show our better side.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
And so Patrick goes to see eighty-year-old Sam Howard, the lawyer who conducted the inquest into the death of missionary priest Jarlath Coughlin. As he questions Sam and Sam’s vibrant, loving, gossipy wife, Elsie, he seeks acknowledgment of a cover-up and an explanation of why the Protestant establishment would help conceal a crime among Catholics. During their give-and-take—about this and the nearly simultaneous shotgun death of Lawrence Gorman (aka Doul Yank)—what emerges from their collective memories are a pungent, wry portrait of village life in Ireland and a tangle of human relationships, some twisted and some that show our better side.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 3, 2015
505 people are currently reading
1287 people want to read
About the author
Tom Phelan
9 books96 followersTom Phelan had just turned fifty when his first novel, In the Season of the Daisies, was accepted for publication. One reviewer later wrote, "The most obvious question posed by a novelistic debut with as much resounding vigour as this is: Where has Mr. Phelan BEEN?"
Since then, Tom has penned a memoir, We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood, and five other novels: Nailer, The Canal Bridge, Iscariot, Derrycloney, and Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told.
His novels deal with such themes as Irish soldiers in World War I, the effects of ancient animosities, returned emigrants, the Irish industrial schools, the priesthood, and life in rural Irish communities.
In We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It, Tom looks back on his formative years growing up in Co. Laois, Ireland, and working with his wise and demanding father as he sought to wrest a livelihood from a small farm.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune says, “Tom Phelan's memoir of his boyhood is exceptional….Phelan's prose has an unpretentious beauty.…With rich detail and sensitivity, We Were Rich translates for us a rural world that has disappeared.”
Newsday calls We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It, is “a nimble exercise in storytelling…a series of richly detailed vignettes....Plain, honest, funny, occasionally sad and rich in material detail, this [is a] wonderful memoir....This is the real thing.”
Kirkus Reviews gave the memoir a starred review, indicating a work of exceptional merit. It called the book "a tender recollection of growing up on a farm in Ireland” and said, “In precise, vibrant prose, Phelan creates...a captivating portrait of a bygone time."
Publishers Weekly called We Were Rich “a rich and colorful snapshot of the times that shaped Phelan.” And the blog For the Love of Books said, “At a time when we have so much and are satisfied with none of it, Phelan’s story is one of grace and beauty.”
In the Season of the Daisies, which centers on the 1921 IRA murder of a young boy and the effects on the survivors, was chosen for the Discover Great New Writers series sponsored by Barnes & Noble. It was also a finalist for the Discover Great New Writers Award.
Iscariot tells the story of an expatriate
ex-priest who returns to Ireland to face the past and stumbles across the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a young woman.
In the humorous Derrycloney, Tom looks at life in the Irish countryside in the 1940s. He calls the book his "fanfare for the common man and woman" of his childhood.
The Canal Bridge, set in Ireland and France in the First World War, is the story of two Irish soldiers – and the lovers and families they leave behind – as they struggle to survive the slaughterhouse that was Europe from 1914 to 1918. The Irish Independent calls it a “masterpiece…ambitious, accomplished and deeply moving.”
Tom’s novel, Nailer, which Books Ireland calls "a hard-hitting thriller," is about a man determined to get revenge – or is it justice? It is set against the backdrop of Ireland's abusive industrial schools and the collusion between state and church that allowed them to flourish.
Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told is a tale of two returned emigrants and their effect on the Irish village they call home. Shelf Awareness calls it “a masterful portrait of Irish village life disguised as a murder mystery.”
For more information, please see www.tomphelan.net.
Since then, Tom has penned a memoir, We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood, and five other novels: Nailer, The Canal Bridge, Iscariot, Derrycloney, and Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told.
His novels deal with such themes as Irish soldiers in World War I, the effects of ancient animosities, returned emigrants, the Irish industrial schools, the priesthood, and life in rural Irish communities.
In We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It, Tom looks back on his formative years growing up in Co. Laois, Ireland, and working with his wise and demanding father as he sought to wrest a livelihood from a small farm.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune says, “Tom Phelan's memoir of his boyhood is exceptional….Phelan's prose has an unpretentious beauty.…With rich detail and sensitivity, We Were Rich translates for us a rural world that has disappeared.”
Newsday calls We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It, is “a nimble exercise in storytelling…a series of richly detailed vignettes....Plain, honest, funny, occasionally sad and rich in material detail, this [is a] wonderful memoir....This is the real thing.”
Kirkus Reviews gave the memoir a starred review, indicating a work of exceptional merit. It called the book "a tender recollection of growing up on a farm in Ireland” and said, “In precise, vibrant prose, Phelan creates...a captivating portrait of a bygone time."
Publishers Weekly called We Were Rich “a rich and colorful snapshot of the times that shaped Phelan.” And the blog For the Love of Books said, “At a time when we have so much and are satisfied with none of it, Phelan’s story is one of grace and beauty.”
In the Season of the Daisies, which centers on the 1921 IRA murder of a young boy and the effects on the survivors, was chosen for the Discover Great New Writers series sponsored by Barnes & Noble. It was also a finalist for the Discover Great New Writers Award.
Iscariot tells the story of an expatriate
ex-priest who returns to Ireland to face the past and stumbles across the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a young woman.
In the humorous Derrycloney, Tom looks at life in the Irish countryside in the 1940s. He calls the book his "fanfare for the common man and woman" of his childhood.
The Canal Bridge, set in Ireland and France in the First World War, is the story of two Irish soldiers – and the lovers and families they leave behind – as they struggle to survive the slaughterhouse that was Europe from 1914 to 1918. The Irish Independent calls it a “masterpiece…ambitious, accomplished and deeply moving.”
Tom’s novel, Nailer, which Books Ireland calls "a hard-hitting thriller," is about a man determined to get revenge – or is it justice? It is set against the backdrop of Ireland's abusive industrial schools and the collusion between state and church that allowed them to flourish.
Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told is a tale of two returned emigrants and their effect on the Irish village they call home. Shelf Awareness calls it “a masterful portrait of Irish village life disguised as a murder mystery.”
For more information, please see www.tomphelan.net.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
January 1, 2015
In 1951, 55 years ago, two suspicious deaths occurred within days of each other in Gohen, a small rural village in Ireland. The first death was of Father Jarlath Coughlin, recently returned from India, staying with his brother and sister whom he despises, and pestering the Catholic residents for donations to his school in India while ignoring the real poverty of these people. The second is of Lawrence Gorman or the Doul Yank, who has returned from The United States to inherit property and has made virtual serfs of his nephew and his wife with promises of inheriting after his death, only to be seen at the bank borrowing money using the property as collateral.
Now, Patrick Bracken, 66 and a retired newspaper reporter who lived in the village as a boy at the time of the deaths, has returned to Gohen because he has always suspected that there was more to the two ‘accidents’ than anyone would admit and that the entire town conspired to cover it up. He has come to the home of Sam Howard, who was the Coroner at the time of the deaths, and his wife, Elsie (Else) and, through their conversation, not only the truth about the deaths is revealed but both Patrick’s and the Howards’ stories as well as that of the other villagers who were involved.
I will admit it took me a while to get into the novel but once I did, I found myself completely engrossed in the tale of this small Irish village and its inhabitants. Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told is not only a mystery but a marvelous coming-of-age tale, and a fascinating look at life in a small Irish town in the middle of the 20th c. Author Tom Phelan has suffused the novel with wit and humour as well as populating the tale with some wonderfully rounded characters who, despite their flaws and some of their actions, still elicit empathy from the reader and will stay with them long after the book is finished. The book may have started slow at least for me but it turned out to be the perfect book to end the year on. Loved it!
Now, Patrick Bracken, 66 and a retired newspaper reporter who lived in the village as a boy at the time of the deaths, has returned to Gohen because he has always suspected that there was more to the two ‘accidents’ than anyone would admit and that the entire town conspired to cover it up. He has come to the home of Sam Howard, who was the Coroner at the time of the deaths, and his wife, Elsie (Else) and, through their conversation, not only the truth about the deaths is revealed but both Patrick’s and the Howards’ stories as well as that of the other villagers who were involved.
I will admit it took me a while to get into the novel but once I did, I found myself completely engrossed in the tale of this small Irish village and its inhabitants. Lies the Mushroom Pickers Told is not only a mystery but a marvelous coming-of-age tale, and a fascinating look at life in a small Irish town in the middle of the 20th c. Author Tom Phelan has suffused the novel with wit and humour as well as populating the tale with some wonderfully rounded characters who, despite their flaws and some of their actions, still elicit empathy from the reader and will stay with them long after the book is finished. The book may have started slow at least for me but it turned out to be the perfect book to end the year on. Loved it!
October 17, 2016
This work is very uneven. The portions that are nearly pure narrative are very well written, interesting, and have a pacing that works well for the storyline and the humor woven throughout. Quite delightful, really, and kept my attention both as a reader interested in the story and as a reviewer considering the quality of the work overall.
However, the dialog did me in. It was overloaded with moments that stretched the humor as well as information that really should have been provided to readers in narrative. I enjoy a more subtle movement through a story, even one with so much humor involved, and didn’t find this a satisfactory read.
I do believe there is an audience for this book, and readers who don’t mind overdone dialog will really thrill to have found this book. But my personal engagement with it left me dissatisfied.
If you enjoy humorous truths, check out Writing While Female or Black or Gay: Diverse Voices in Publishing.
However, the dialog did me in. It was overloaded with moments that stretched the humor as well as information that really should have been provided to readers in narrative. I enjoy a more subtle movement through a story, even one with so much humor involved, and didn’t find this a satisfactory read.
I do believe there is an audience for this book, and readers who don’t mind overdone dialog will really thrill to have found this book. But my personal engagement with it left me dissatisfied.
If you enjoy humorous truths, check out Writing While Female or Black or Gay: Diverse Voices in Publishing.
April 23, 2022
Unsure at first, but I really enjoyed this book. A glimpse of life in an Irish village, in which the inhabitants are the key. The book may be about two suspicious deaths, but the amazing Irish humour made the book for me. I also love quirky tales!
February 17, 2018
3.75 stars
This is a quirky and endearing book, a little uneven at times, but a wonderful glimpse into Irish village life with a dark and rollicking humor.
Patrick mostly grew up in the village and has returned as an adult. He spends an afternoon with the old county magistrate and his wife, and the novel spins out in chapters retelling long ago events, most specifically the unsolved deaths of two men decades ago.
By the end, not only do you know who committed the crimes, you know many of the townspeople, their histories, and their sorrows. Every once in a while the language is eloquent and lovely -- as in the description of an old woman's hands, or the affection between an old married couple.
This is a quirky and endearing book, a little uneven at times, but a wonderful glimpse into Irish village life with a dark and rollicking humor.
Patrick mostly grew up in the village and has returned as an adult. He spends an afternoon with the old county magistrate and his wife, and the novel spins out in chapters retelling long ago events, most specifically the unsolved deaths of two men decades ago.
By the end, not only do you know who committed the crimes, you know many of the townspeople, their histories, and their sorrows. Every once in a while the language is eloquent and lovely -- as in the description of an old woman's hands, or the affection between an old married couple.
October 4, 2020
I am a little surprised by some of the poor reviews. I really enjoyed this one. I took a little off because of the Irish obsession with sex. Between the husbands and wives, the wet dreams and the town flasher it got to be too much. But the story about the mysterious deaths of two members of the town within days of each other was good. The book alternates between the past and the present. In the present, Patrick, who was a child and a semi-witness at the time of the deaths, is interviewing the lawyer in charge of the inquest and his wife, who are both now elderly and bicker with the ease of those who have been volleying for years. The past is told in snippets of different perspectives of various people in the town at the time - the brother and sister of the soon-to-be deceased Father Coughlin, Patrick and his friend, Mikey, Mattie, nephew of soon-to-be deceased Doul Yank, and his wife Peggy, to name a few. I loved listen to the tales of daily life in a small farming town in Ireland in the 1950’s. It seems so foreign and difficult. Most homes did not have electricity or running water. The mystery of the deaths wasn’t much of a mystery when you hear how awfully these men treated their families, but it was interesting to see how the community banded together to protect their own. The audiobook was a joy to listen to - love the Irish accent. Highly recommend.
Read
February 5, 2019This witty book is another in a long line of excellent and thought-provoking novels by the Irish writer Tom Phelan. We've all heard of a Protestant-Catholic divide in Ireland, but this tale, set mainly in the Irish countryside in the 1950s, shows that religious divide to be a myth, as townspeople of all religious persuasions conspire to conceal the truth about the deaths of two very unpopular characters. Gorgeous prose, unforgettable characters, and a great plot.
April 19, 2022
I did not finish this book…
I thought it was going to be good. The first few chapters were even kind of interesting. Then the author just went down a rabbit hole of pointless narrative, shoehorning in ridiculous scenes, and please for the love of NICOLAS CAGE stop letting male authors write sexually explicit commentary from a female POV.
Have fun with this fucking book. I didn’t.
I thought it was going to be good. The first few chapters were even kind of interesting. Then the author just went down a rabbit hole of pointless narrative, shoehorning in ridiculous scenes, and please for the love of NICOLAS CAGE stop letting male authors write sexually explicit commentary from a female POV.
Have fun with this fucking book. I didn’t.
May 11, 2022
I read this book and reviewed it last year but apparently goodreads ate it or something because it is gone. I recall liking the story but I can’t recall many details now other than what is in the description (which is why I write a review in the first place … sigh)
June 14, 2018
What a great Irish yarn! I loved the flow of the story telling and the descriptive writing and especially the Irish 'characters'--and they were really 'characters'! The story began in a serious way about the 2 suspicious deaths years before in a small Irish village but then it became rather hilarious with the descriptions of the unusual 'characters', their nicknames and their backgrounds: Bridie and Eddie-the-cap Coughlin, Bridget 'the Martyr' Madden and Doul Yank Gorman,... The title is a bit misleading or questionable until about 80% into the story and then it all makes sense. This book made me laugh out loud at some of the descriptions!
February 23, 2016
A wonderful novel - one to read over and over again to enjoy the language and the characters of this Irish village.
The protagonist returns as an adult to the village of Clunnybo in Ireland, where he'd spent his early childhood. He returns to uncover the truth behind two deaths that occurred in the village shortly before his family moves away in the early 1950s, and the story unfolds in flashbacks during his final interview in the village - an interview with a delightful old couple.
You'll care deeply about the people in this village - past and present!
The protagonist returns as an adult to the village of Clunnybo in Ireland, where he'd spent his early childhood. He returns to uncover the truth behind two deaths that occurred in the village shortly before his family moves away in the early 1950s, and the story unfolds in flashbacks during his final interview in the village - an interview with a delightful old couple.
You'll care deeply about the people in this village - past and present!
June 8, 2019
Your visit to Ireland without tour bus or guide.
I had a high auld time reading this engaging novel. The humor was a part of relating the circumstances, but expertly crafted. The plot was well presented as you were fireside with the narrator. You would easily recognize the characters in passing. I could smell the turf fire, feel the warmth and hear china rattle as tea was shared. I enjoyed this well structured trip with Tom Phelan. It was very good indeed.
I had a high auld time reading this engaging novel. The humor was a part of relating the circumstances, but expertly crafted. The plot was well presented as you were fireside with the narrator. You would easily recognize the characters in passing. I could smell the turf fire, feel the warmth and hear china rattle as tea was shared. I enjoyed this well structured trip with Tom Phelan. It was very good indeed.
November 18, 2016
Disappointing
Too drawn out, even boring at times.. The characters are mostly Interesting but something is lacking.. You can recommend but don't tell me how many words I have to use..
Too drawn out, even boring at times.. The characters are mostly Interesting but something is lacking.. You can recommend but don't tell me how many words I have to use..
October 26, 2020
Lots of Chuckles
I enjoyed all the many idiosyncratic characters with their Irish dialect. Because of the introduction of many characters early on it took some time for the story to develop. I enjoyed my time with this rural community
I enjoyed all the many idiosyncratic characters with their Irish dialect. Because of the introduction of many characters early on it took some time for the story to develop. I enjoyed my time with this rural community
January 31, 2025
Hmm, a difficult one to review really!
The premise was intriguing, the notion of a child who witnessed (a) crime/s and then saw the investigation and inquest result in a legal version of events that were simply not the truth, the child returning in his elderly years to make peace with the past. Emotionally, I found it very lacking.
What was presented to the reader was not the ramifications of carrying this secret and the why of their decision to reopen the past and potentially ruin the lives of people who were involved in ensuring that these crimes were firmly filed as "accidents". Instead, it was a mix of flashbacks and the child, now elderly man - Sam - engaging in conversation with the coroner who facilitated the cover up. Now the dialogue was excellently pitched, capturing the intimacy and familiarity - in both comforting and frustrating terms - of village life. The rhythms and rapport really were fabulous, it just never felt like it amounted to anything significant?
It never felt like Sam's life had been unnaturally affected by what he witnessed and his decision to have the truth confirmed to him was treated like a cosy natter - which it was - that was never intended to have any consequences. If your characters don't care, it's really hard to expect your readers to care.
The premise was intriguing, the notion of a child who witnessed (a) crime/s and then saw the investigation and inquest result in a legal version of events that were simply not the truth, the child returning in his elderly years to make peace with the past. Emotionally, I found it very lacking.
What was presented to the reader was not the ramifications of carrying this secret and the why of their decision to reopen the past and potentially ruin the lives of people who were involved in ensuring that these crimes were firmly filed as "accidents". Instead, it was a mix of flashbacks and the child, now elderly man - Sam - engaging in conversation with the coroner who facilitated the cover up. Now the dialogue was excellently pitched, capturing the intimacy and familiarity - in both comforting and frustrating terms - of village life. The rhythms and rapport really were fabulous, it just never felt like it amounted to anything significant?
It never felt like Sam's life had been unnaturally affected by what he witnessed and his decision to have the truth confirmed to him was treated like a cosy natter - which it was - that was never intended to have any consequences. If your characters don't care, it's really hard to expect your readers to care.
July 24, 2021
I listened to this on Audio and it was wonderful. The Irish narrator was brilliant, each character came to life in the telling. This is an extremely well-written mystery. It's laugh-out-loud funny one minute, poignant the next. There are sex scenes and swearing that are expressed in a very Irish way: while some might find these elements offensive, The sex scenes were the funniest parts of the book.
November 30, 2020
A murder mystery set in rural Ireland. The depiction of small Irish communities was probably the most interesting and engaging part of the story as a whole. But the author includes a lot of odd humor and jumping back and forth between time periods, which I found slightly frustrating at times. I will say, though, that the second half of the story was better than the first.
April 5, 2024
I still don't get this one. I couldn't focus and it seemed not much happened whilst also a lot happened. I found this hard to motivate myself and definitely not one I HAD to pick up
April 30, 2022
Audio book, well narrated/performed!
February 7, 2018
It was ok. Set in Ireland, in the present and with a bunch of flashbacks to just after WWII when there were 2 suspicious deaths in a small rural town. The flashbacks were a lot better than the present-day scenes, which were clunky and kind of pointless, except for showing how various things turned out for various people.
September 1, 2020
I haven't read it yet.
July 6, 2024
I think you might "get" this book better if you grew up in rural Ireland several decades back, as I did. Because every word evokes that time and society beautifully, I loved the book.
It brought back so many memories. (I could see the turned down wellingtons and hear my own late father saying "The hoor!!" about some neighbour with whom he had a dispute.)
The fair day in town was another marvellously evoked scene. (I still remember that muck and smell!)
I laughed out loud several times, especially at the imagined dialogue between the Coughlans on the merits of fruit for bowel health! Although the humour is so well done, the writing also brings us into the deprivation and darkness of many peoples lives as they keep going in the face of adversity, like the tragic Bridie Coughlan.
The book explores relationships beautifully too, Mikey and Barlow, the two civil servants, the local couples, the siblings, the civil servant supporting the bullied boy, Sam and Else.
It also paints the economic state of the country and the religious and class divisions very accurately. We are left in no doubt that the Irish people were reduced to defecating behind bushes for lack of a water supply, that light came from oil lamps and that the houses were often cold and damp.
The story of the deaths is mainly a device upon which to hang this depiction of a time and place I think but that in no way detracted from my absolute enjoyment of the book.
Tom Phelan is an Irish treasure!
It brought back so many memories. (I could see the turned down wellingtons and hear my own late father saying "The hoor!!" about some neighbour with whom he had a dispute.)
The fair day in town was another marvellously evoked scene. (I still remember that muck and smell!)
I laughed out loud several times, especially at the imagined dialogue between the Coughlans on the merits of fruit for bowel health! Although the humour is so well done, the writing also brings us into the deprivation and darkness of many peoples lives as they keep going in the face of adversity, like the tragic Bridie Coughlan.
The book explores relationships beautifully too, Mikey and Barlow, the two civil servants, the local couples, the siblings, the civil servant supporting the bullied boy, Sam and Else.
It also paints the economic state of the country and the religious and class divisions very accurately. We are left in no doubt that the Irish people were reduced to defecating behind bushes for lack of a water supply, that light came from oil lamps and that the houses were often cold and damp.
The story of the deaths is mainly a device upon which to hang this depiction of a time and place I think but that in no way detracted from my absolute enjoyment of the book.
Tom Phelan is an Irish treasure!
October 21, 2019
Patrick the journalist realizes that enough time has passed since the deaths of Father Jarlath Coughlin and Lawrence "Doul Yank" Gorman for him to deeply investigate their respective demises. Both of the men were right bastards and learning how a village (Gohen) disposed of them and protected themselves while doing so was very interesting. The book jumps all over but I personally like that kind of plot because it keeps me on my reading toes. I adored the children Mikey and Barlow and their earnest attempts at mushroom picking which is referenced in the title. It is a huge lesson to them that sometimes adults will lie. Actually, that people in general can and will lie. What a tough life lesson...some people cannot be taken at their word. I felt angry and sad for the families (particularly the females) who were bullied by Jarlath and Lawrence. I didn't know how to feel about how it all turned out but I was happy that the burdens created by these two jackasses were lifted from their families.
March 16, 2016
The premise is that this is kind of a mystery: two men died unexpectedly in a small Irish village in 1951; everyone knows they were murdered, but officially the deaths were declared accidents. A retired reporter, who had lived in the area at the time of the deaths but left shortly afterwards at the age of 11, comes back to confront one of the surviving participants in the cover-up. But actually, that's just the framework. This is a biography of rural life in Ireland in 1951. It's about the state of poverty that existed; about the eccentricities of some of the people who lived there; about the subtle kindnesses and cruelties; about the somewhat suspicious but symbiotic relationship between Catholic and Protestant. in the end, the "mysteries" are solved pretty much as we thought they'd be: but we've lived that summer in this place at that time.
February 18, 2017
Phelan has created a dark tale of two murders in a small Irish village just after WWII; a priest home from a mission school in India and a Yank who seeks his home after a long period of time ( Having earned the moniker, "Yank," for his abandonment of the isle). The dénouement of this novel involves the memories of people who were part of the village and how they neither encouraged nor did they expose those who committed the crimes. Indeed, the questions of guilt and justice are intriguing in this well written account, and the reader is taken for a long ride through the minds of villagers, both as children and as adults. While this review may appear to be of a classic mystery, and my local library shelved it as such, I think it does a disservice to cling to the label. It is much, much more.
April 14, 2018
Well done! Love the format and character presentation in this profoundly human tale. This masterful storyteller evokes the image of a traveling storyteller of old Ireland. The story is masterfully set up, craftily delivered and utterly resolved in its climax. May the road (continue to) rise up to meet you so we can enjoy many more tales.
February 13, 2015
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway. This is now one of my favorite books. The story line gripped my interest on the first page, and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book. It is a very good page turner.
September 21, 2019
What a lovely, pleasant read--perfect for a rainy fall weekend with loads of tea and a blanket. Use of language is beautiful and the cast of characters stay firmly within the lines drawn for them. The dialogue never feels trite or boring. The languid pace is also enjoyable.
December 27, 2023
Stick with it
It was a bit of a slow start. Also, it took me several chapters to figure out the format, but I realized it was quite clever once I got the gist of it. You quickly come to love the relationship between Sam and Else.
It was a bit of a slow start. Also, it took me several chapters to figure out the format, but I realized it was quite clever once I got the gist of it. You quickly come to love the relationship between Sam and Else.
April 13, 2020
The phraseology was so beautifully descriptive and the dialogue so authentic and hilarious that I kept rereading them for the sheer enjoyment of it.
January 16, 2017
I quite enjoyed this book. It is partly a mystery and partly an exploration of human relationships in mid-century rural Ireland. Told with humor and evocative description it is a comfortable and pleasant read. Much of the book is a conversation between three people: Patrick is a retired journalist who returned to the village of his birth to resolve questions he still has about two deaths that occurred there during his youth. He is winding up his research by speaking with Sam, the solicitor who conducted the inquest into one of the deaths, and Sam's wife Else, who has clearly also had questions about the events for all these years. Sam and Else are in their 80s now, sharp of wit and existing in the comfortable, bantering rhythm of long and well-married couples. The story moves back and forth between the present-day (2006-ish?) conversation between the three, and the events of 1951 told in narrative form from the perspectives of various characters, most of whom are now long dead. The deaths in question were both ruled accidental, but it is a fairly open secret that both were, in fact, murders. There is no real suspense, because the mystery is not about who killed whom or why. The mystery is about why everyone in the village seems to have colluded in maintaining the pretense that they were accidental deaths. Patrick, it seems, has no interest in publishing anything about the events or their coverup. He only wants to know, for his own satisfaction and understanding, why "the grownups all lied" about everything. Else enjoys gossip tremendously, and has always had her own suspicions about what happened, as well as what her husband's involvement might have been in ruling the one death accidental. Sam has his own reasons for wanting to have this conversation at long last. The three of them maintain an easy, bantering manner as they thoroughly debrief what occurred over 50 years ago. They dip briefly, here and there, into personally painful matters, then return to their easy comfort with one another, always circling closer and closer to the heart of the story.
At times the conversation drags a bit, Sam and Else indulge in their back-and-forth good natured teasing a bit more than necessary. Still, it is pleasant to witness their steadfast regard and recognize the long romance that must have brought them here. There is perhaps more metaconversation than is necessary, talking about why they are talking about it. But that's only a minor distraction, it doesn't go on for too long at any one point. Patrick is more engaging in the backstory as the boy he was, and is a bit nondescript as the adult he is now, but he is pleasant enough, and he moves the story along. Phelan writes with humor and a kind of brutal honesty about the living conditions that were a matter of course in post-WWII rural Ireland. The British had only recently left, a series of wars had depleted the country, and poverty was the norm. Electricity had not yet made its way to the village, nor indoor plumbing, for the most part. Various aspects of the everyday filth that is a part of a farming community are described in a way that is simultaneously horrifying and mundane, and are told with affectionate humor. There are no great revelations from this book, and no great suspense or tensions within the story. It's just three people making sense of something that influenced all their lives, unfolded in colorful chapters. I liked that.
At times the conversation drags a bit, Sam and Else indulge in their back-and-forth good natured teasing a bit more than necessary. Still, it is pleasant to witness their steadfast regard and recognize the long romance that must have brought them here. There is perhaps more metaconversation than is necessary, talking about why they are talking about it. But that's only a minor distraction, it doesn't go on for too long at any one point. Patrick is more engaging in the backstory as the boy he was, and is a bit nondescript as the adult he is now, but he is pleasant enough, and he moves the story along. Phelan writes with humor and a kind of brutal honesty about the living conditions that were a matter of course in post-WWII rural Ireland. The British had only recently left, a series of wars had depleted the country, and poverty was the norm. Electricity had not yet made its way to the village, nor indoor plumbing, for the most part. Various aspects of the everyday filth that is a part of a farming community are described in a way that is simultaneously horrifying and mundane, and are told with affectionate humor. There are no great revelations from this book, and no great suspense or tensions within the story. It's just three people making sense of something that influenced all their lives, unfolded in colorful chapters. I liked that.
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