Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as the finest book to come out of Europe this year, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is acclaimed Irish playwright Sebastian Barry's lyrical tale of a fugitive everyman. For Eneas McNulty, a happy, innocent childhood in County Sligo in the early 1900s gives way to an Ireland wracked by violence and conflict. Unable to find work in the depressed times after World War I, Eneas joins the British-led police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary--a decision that alters the course of his life. ...
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Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as the finest book to come out of Europe this year, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is acclaimed Irish playwright Sebastian Barry's lyrical tale of a fugitive everyman. For Eneas McNulty, a happy, innocent childhood in County Sligo in the early 1900s gives way to an Ireland wracked by violence and conflict. Unable to find work in the depressed times after World War I, Eneas joins the British-led police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary--a decision that alters the course of his life. Branded a traitor by Irish nationalists and pursued by IRA hitmen, Eneas is forced to flee his homeland, his family, and Viv, the woman he loves. His wandering terminates on the Isle of Dogs, a haven for sailors, where a lifetime of loss is redeemed by a final act of generosity. The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is the story of a lost man and a compelling saga that illuminates Ireland's complex history. From the first sentences of the book we know we are in the hands of a master storyteller. -- The Wall Street Journal Magnificent. . . . No one who loves fiction will want to reach the end of this bewitching, penetrating, unforgettable book. -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review (front page) Elegant, comical, tragical, musical. It's a symphony of a novel and you'll sing along and wander with Eneas into the next century. --Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes
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Most of us have a kind of control over our destiny and rarely make choices that unwittingly condemn us to eventual suffering and hardship. Eneas McNulty does, however, and ends up wandering. a kind of Irish Aeneas, fleeing from his Irish Troy into other infernos. Sounds cheerful! In the hands of Sebastian Barry, though, a marvellous sculptor with words, you cannot help but be drawn into the life of this unfortunate - at the end, I felt uplifted and grateful, almost as if I, too, had come out of an epic journey, alive and wiser. Thank you, Mr. Barry.
