The Gathering - Anne Enright

...this one (from 2007) in the local library. The blurb describes it as a 'family epic', 'tracing the line of hurt and redemption through three generations', but at its heart is the story of one woman's inner turmoil, her scrambling through family history to find whatever it is that will help her to make sense of and then return to, the life from which she has become both physically and emotionally detached.

In the review I wrote of the ...
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The plot itself is very simple. The protagonist, Veronica Hegarty, is bringing her brother's body back to Ireland from Brighton where he walked into the sea to his death, his blood full of alcohol, his pockets full of stones. The Gathering of the title refers to his wake, attended by the vast Hegarty clan. Veronica believes that the seeds of her brother's suicide were sewn many years earlier, when they were children staying at ... more

At a loss as to what to read next, I went in search of Man Booker Prize winners and found this one (from 2007) in the local library. The blurb describes it as a 'family epic', 'tracing the line of hurt and redemption through three generations', but at its heart is the story of one woman's inner turmoil, her scrambling through family history to find whatever it is that will help her to make sense of and then return to, the life from which she has become both physically and emotionally detached.

In the review I wrote of the last book I read, Down River (John Hart), I said that I prefer less action and more emotion, character, prose. Well, I certainly got what I asked for!

The plot itself is very simple. The protagonist, Veronica Hegarty, is bringing her brother's body back to Ireland from Brighton where he walked into the sea to his death, his blood full of alcohol, his pockets full of stones. The Gathering of the title refers to his wake, attended by the vast Hegarty clan. Veronica believes that the seeds of her brother's suicide were sewn many years earlier, when they were children staying at their grandmother's house.

And so she reaches back into history reimagining events that she never witnessed, retelling stories that she has heard, delving into her own unreliable memory to paint a picture of the past. Some of this comes across as a stream of consciousness, with her sometimes correcting herself when she remembers wrongly, or questioning her own memory. This is not the strict telling of a story or a family history, but is an impression of it, a version of it, a perfect demonstration of the fact that history is always subjective. She says herself of history and of her brother, Liam's story: "If it would just stay still, I think, and settle down. If it would just stop sliding around in my head."

There is not much action in The Gathering. External action, that is. This novel concentrates on the internal noise and images, not the external ones. There is a scene, for example, where her grandmother first meets Lamb Nugent, a man who she will not marry, but who will not leave her life and who will have a profound effect on the rest of the family. They see each other across a hotel lobby. That is it. And yet, whilst the eight pages that describe this meeting have no external action or dialogue, the internal noise and turmoil of desire and restraint is very powerful and somehow, through Enright's writing, incredibly noisy.

When Veronica talks about the event that started this story back in their grandmother's house, she says she can 'feel it roaring inside me'. How better to summarise this book - a memory that can be felt and that has an incredible internal clamour.

Enright's observation is compelling, it's not the detail that she observes, but the otherwise unseen. She paints a picture with her words and the imagery is beautiful and sometimes humorous, but always perfectly crafted. For example, she says of her grandmother: "Her own hands, as she unsheathes them from her black leather gloves, are skinny and restless: a tangle of strings and knobs and bones, like ship's rigging."

As is to be expected from a novel about family and about the gathering of that family at a moment of significance, this novel addresses the big issues of life and death, love and loss, memories and family secrets. It is, though, essentially a personal take on all of this, as Veronica struggles with her own demons. It is not a book that will change your own view on these big issues.

Before writing a review, I usually read a few to see what other people's impressions are and it has to be said that The Gathering gets a very mixed response. What's for sure is people either really enjoy it or really hate it. The main complaint is that it is tedious and some feel it is pretentious. Those who love it talk of the clever and beautiful prose.

I do understand why people may not enjoy this novel. I expect the younger me would have thought it pretentious, but the older me can empathise with and understand the internal dialogue of this unhinged mother!

If you like a story with plot and action, then I would caution against this book. If you find memories, emotions and introspection tedious then steer clear.

I personally really enjoyed it. I did not feel it suffered from a lack of plot, because I felt the plot was actually Veronica's own story of confusion and anguish, her bereavement. I loved the prose and found it a joy to read. 

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