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In the Season of the Daisies

In 1921, five "big stupid eejits" botch a muddle-headed IRA action. As the result of their mighty blow for freedom—a midnight massacre of porter barrels at a Protestant bottling house—young Willie Doolin is brutally murdered and his twin brother Seanie is beaten and traumatized, escaping with his life, but not his sanity. 27 years later, the events of that night are revealed through the interior monologues of Phelan's dramatis personae: Seanie Doolin, forever 13 years old, endlessly reliving his brother's death in his struggle to "twist the story" to a different ending; Enda McKenna, the doctor who has drowned his life and career in drink and remorse; Father Quinn, the hate-mongering priest who bleeds the town dry to erect a monument to himself; Peetie Mahon, Seanie's persistent nemesis; Guard McSwaine, whose masturbatory ruminations and impending comeuppance provide welcome comic relief; and Mr. Sheehan, the schoolteacher and town conscience who sees through them all. With echoes of Faulkner and Joyce, each chapter contributes a new voice and an alternate view of events to the emerging, composite truth. Phelan's exquisite economy of form is akin to musical composition—themes are taken up, passed to a new voice, developed, and returned in a new key. There are no inessential elements; everyone and everything is integral to the denouement. IN THE SEASON OF THE DAISIES is an astonishing debut novel that weds sheer mastery of craft with soul-bruising emotional force.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 238
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781568581088
  • Genres
  • fiction
  • Release date
  • 1998