 |
Newly married couple Ben and Brigid leave their home in rural Ireland in search of a better life in America. Ben toils at an aluminum factory in upstate New York while Brigid dreams of having a child. Her brother James, meanwhile, heads to the West Coast and labors as a freight handler for the Southern Pacific Company.
Back home in Ireland, Brigid’s sister Kate has been suffering from delusional episodes, including seeing the ghosts of departed loved ones. She’s involuntarily admitted to the Enniscorthy District Lunatic Asylum. Ben begins to fear there may be a streak of madness in the family after Brigid miscarries and develops delusions regarding her condition.
As the Great War and a flu pandemic rupture American society, Ben grows increasingly disenchanted with Brigid, who proves vulnerable to the wares of flim-flam artists and groundlessly accuses her husband of having an affair with another woman. While Brigid seeks the wisdom and protection of Father O’Brien, Ben fears the the worst for his beloved's future.
Based on the life stories of a real Irish-American immigrant family, Fewer’s book is poignant and frequently unsettling. These characters experience some of the worst things any human can encounter, but Fewer’s commitment to depicting life’s bleaker aspects is admirable. The novel's great strength lies in its portrayal of early twentieth-century American life, which is both immersive in its scope and accurate in its details. The author resists the temptation to draw comparisons with the recent pandemic, though a line about how "there is money to be made" in exploiting the public hunger for novelty feels haunting in its prescience. This is a harrowing story, skillfully told.