Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987 - 2007

Liam Harte is Senior Lecturer in Irish and Modern Literature at the University of Manchester. He is the author or editor of seven books, including Contemporary Irish Fiction: Themes, Tropes, Theories (2000; co-edited with Michael Parker), Ireland Beyond Boundaries: Mapping Irish Studies in the Twenty-First Century (2007; co-edited with Yvonne Whelan) and Modern Irish Autobiography: Self, Nation and Society (2007). His The Literature of the Irish in Britain: Autobiography and Memoir, 1725–2001 (2009) was a Book of the Year in both the Times Literary Supplement and the Irish Independent, and appeared as a Palgrave Macmillan paperback in 2011.

• Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987–2007 11 In the FamilyWay: Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy (1987–1991) 232 House Arrest: John McGahern’s Amongst Women (1990) 513 Malignant Shame: Patrick McCabe’s The Butcher Boy (1992) 754 Uncertain Terms, Unstable Sands: Colm T´ oib´ýn’s The Heather Blazing (1992) 1055 Unbearable Proximities:William Trevor’s Felicia’s Journey (1994) 1276 History’s Hostages: Edna O’Brien’s House of Splendid Isolation (1994) 1517 Shadows in the Air: Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark (1996) 1738 The Politics of Pity: Sebastian Barry’s A Long Long Way (2005) 1979 Mourning Remains Unresolved: Anne Enright’s The Gathering (2007) 217Bibliography 243Index 259

“In addition to developing intellectually bold arguments, Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel is also enjoyable to read – an enviable achievement for any academic book.  There is an ease to Harte’s style and a lightness of touch in the way he deals with an expansive range of socio-historical contexts that makes this book deserving of a broad readership beyond the walls of the university.” (Irish Studies Review, 18 March 2015).“It offers an excellent primer in each chapter that I can easily imagine being of great use not only to students of literature, but also to those of us engaged in the work of teaching and studying such works.” (New Madrid, 1 October 2015).“Students and scholars of Irish literature, history, and culture will find much to admire in this wide-ranging book; not only is it an insightful complement to Harte’s other monographs but also it is especially valuable to those teaching the Irish novel.” (College Literature, Summer 2018).“All in all, an accomplished and insightful critical success. Harte brings wide reading to his analyses and great light to the novels he discusses in depth. Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel is must reading for Irish Studies scholars.” (New Hibernia Review, Spring 2016).“Harte’s readings demonstrate the kind of fluency and comprehensiveness that one has come to expect of his criticism.” (South Carolina Review, Spring 2016).“As a guide to some of the major issues and concerns of Ireland in the last thirty years and how writers have dealt with them, this is a substantial engagement with the field.” (Breac: A Digital Journal of Irish Studies, 19 March 2015).