First published 1999
An aging Irish man sits alone in England, looking back on a lifetime of displacement. He recalls his boyhood in western Ireland, where he knew every field and stone before economic necessity drove him across the sea. For decades he worked in English factories, dug potatoes in foreign soil, and labored on construction sites while homesickness ate at him. The faces of his family back home visit his memory alongside the woman he once loved and the traditional music he played in Irish pubs. His homeland lives inside him still, complete with its countryside and coastal views, its familiar rhythms now lost to him. Writer Timothy O'Grady collaborates with photographer Steve Pyke to create this meditation on immigration and belonging. Pyke's photographs of Irish landscapes and people accompany the narrative, creating a visual counterpoint to the protagonist's memories. The book captures the particular pain of the Irish who left their country for work in England during the mid-twentieth century, exploring how exile shapes identity and how the past refuses to release its hold on those who carry it into foreign lands.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical
Tropes: exile, memory
Setting: England, Ireland, Western Ireland
Period: Mid-20th Century
176 pages · Paperback · Harvill Press