House of Splendid Isolation

I read and very much enjoyed Edna O'Brien's COUNTRY GIRLS trilogy more than thirty years ago, so half a buck at a library sale for her HOUSE OF SPLENDID ISOLATION (1994) seemed a real bargain. And it was. Set in rural Ireland in relatively modern times, "the Troubles" are central to a story with a widely varied cast of characters, including members of the Garda, IRA operatives and sympathizers and more. The two central figures here, however, are Josie O'Meara, an older widow who lives alone in a crumbling manor house left to her by an abusive, alcoholic husband (and there's her own backstory of working as a maid in Brooklyn before returning to Ireland to marry); and McGreevy, a notorious IRA agent on the run from both the British and show more the Irish for bombings and other terrorist acts. His own history (prison time, a dead wife and child) is gradually revealed while he hides out in the O'Meara house, where the older woman begins to care for him. Initially the two plots seem very disconnected, especially with the other characters - the servants, nosy neighbors and the Garda, and even a witchy abortionist - thrown into the complex mix, but the lives of the two protagonists become ever closer as the authorities close in on McGreevy, concluding in an explosive showdown. Vastly different from her COUNTRY GIRLS books, this one is a bit of a slow starter, but heats up as it nears the end. You want a close, inside look at "the Troubles" and how so many lives have been lost or ruined in that long history? Read this book. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

This is a story that starts as quite disjointed, but pulls together as the book progresses. Set in Ireland in the troubles, is starts with an escaped prisioner who fights for the cause of a united Ireland and the elderly woman whose house he takes refuge in. There is his effect on the local population set against her life story. It moves backwards and forwards between her time spent in America, her marriage (not happy) and her present against the police activity chasing the escapee down and their current situation. It's not a simple story to keep straight, the different perspectives and timeframes make it sometimes hard to place who is being described. But it is worth sticking with.

The premise of this novel was so fascinating - an escaped IRA fugitive hides in an old woman's home and the two develop a friendship - but I struggled with this book. The structure of the novel, with long chapter and skipping between characters, just didn't work for me and I felt like I never truly engaged with the story.

I read and enjoyed her memoir "Country Girl."

This one I did not like so much. It’s a novel about an I.R.A. man on the run from the Garda who hides out in a large country house empty except for its owner, an old woman, whom he makes his hostage. Some good prose, and some thoughtful exploration of the psychic and moral scars left by civil war and terrorism, but it was very scattered, and I found it hard to follow.

A short book, made a little complicated to read by spliced-in sections including jumps in time and subject. All told we thought the writing was beautiful and fluid. It presents a portrait of "the troubles" through a couple of character types that seem realistic, and not an overview of all the elements of the economics and politics of the long struggle. Discussion suggests that we would read more on Northern Ireland.

A detatched lonely cool elderly woman on the brink of madness tries to get herself a man -only he is full of guts and a terrorist AND he is young.

Creative & deep, but for some reason my snorkel didn't allow me to appreciate it fully.
Read Samoa Sept 2003