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Solace

by Belinda McKeon
Scribner. May 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9781451610543. $24. F
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Tom Casey farms a small parcel of land near Edgeworthstown in rural Ireland. His son, Mark, lives in Dublin, where he struggles to finish a dissertation about the fiction of the 18th-century Anglo-Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth. Though bound by blood and common experience, both men live in separate worlds. The distance between them contracts when a devastating tragedy throws them together. Through the Caseys' complicated relationship, McKeon addresses sobering themes: parenthood, identity, vocation, and the limitations of love. By the book's conclusion, father and son seem to have brokered an uneasy but livable peace rooted in the hopes they share for Mark's young daughter.
VERDICT McKeon's debut novel heralds a powerful new voice in contemporary Irish fiction, displaying a deliberateness and quiet strength that provides a notable contrast to the frenetic depiction of everyday lives evident in much modern fiction. McKeon's command of description and pacing are especially impressive. Colm Tóibín's stylistic influence is evident throughout, though McKeon's treatment of romance and relationships calls to mind Anne Enright's best work.
Reviewed by J. Greg Matthews, Washington State Univ., Pullman , May 01, 2011
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