Irish fiction

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, November 2014; written by Lisa Pearson.

Ireland has a well-deserved reputation as an incubator of literary talent. The Irish have been making significant contributions to world literature for centuries and have been inspiring authors from around the world to set their tales on Irish soil. For a country one-third the size of Idaho, there is quite a range of stories from which to choose.

One of my favorite Irish authors is Ken Bruen. He has a wonderful, fluid way of writing that pulls you into the story and keeps you unable to close the book. Bruen’s Ireland, however, is a bleak place where the materialism of the 1990’s Celtic Tiger has stripped away the soul of the country. The protagonist of his popular Jack Taylor detective series is a former member of the Garda who lost his job because of his drinking. He struggles now to eke out a living as a private investigator, still turning to the twin solace of alcohol and drugs to get him through his day. As much as I love Bruen’s writing, I would not recommend binge-reading his books: especially during a grey November weekend. Taken one at a time, though, his books offer a tightly-drawn insight into the Ireland behind the twee façade of fluffy sheep and foamy pints of Guinness.

If you’re really sold on the vision of Ireland dotted with fluffy sheep (which it actually is), then try “Three bags full” by German novelist Leonie Swann. The detectives in Swann’s fun novel are the sheep themselves. What makes this book particularly clever is that they - and the reader - investigate the death of their shepherd George without ever ceasing to be sheep. They’re not Sherlock Holmes on four legs, or conniving, or deep thinkers. They overhear human conversations, watch things happen from their pasture, and look at events with their own sheep-y perspective. There is a lot of subtle humor in this novel, both in the individual personalities of each sheep and in the way the village residents appear to them (especially the local butcher!).

Another humorous detective series set in Ireland is the Mobile Library series by British author Ian Sansom. Set in fictional Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, this series features a Jewish vegetarian librarian from London who is actually one of the less eccentric characters in the area. Disenchanted with small-town Ireland, his bookmobile job, his near-penniless state and his ailing relationship with a successful lawyer named Gloria, Israel Armstrong kvetches his way through a variety of low-key mysteries and adventures. His interactions with the locals, and even with his own co-worker Ted Carson, are quite funny. Unlike many books set in Northern Ireland, sectarian divisions and The Troubles do not loom over the plot.

I’ll take a break from the mysteries I so obviously enjoy and present something completely different. “Hot whispers of an Irishman” by Dorien Kelly is the final book in a romance trilogy set in the fictional town of Ballymuir. I can’t speak to the literary merits of this book; it was the title that caught my attention. On the flip side of the romance coin, Frank Delaney’s trilogy featuring Venetia Kelly and Ben McCarthy takes a storyteller’s approach to their relationship. Historical events and characters are woven through these novels, which also take on the larger issues of poverty, violence and superstition. Delaney has a really nice way with language and metaphor, and the story feels like an old Irish saga.

These are just a few of the many novels available at the public library that bring the culture, history and people of Ireland to life. For more suggestions, just ask a librarian.