The Barracks
Celebrated Irish author McGahern has written six novels, most recentlyBy the Lake(2002) and four short story collections. This is the first U.S. publication of his first novel, which was written in 1963. It is the story of Elizabeth Reegan, who, after years of being alone, marries a widower with three children. Her husband, a policeman, is a hard and bitter man who never passes up the opportunity to stick it to his rule-mongering boss. Endless chores and her deep awareness of her inability to soothe her husband's restlessness or to be an essential part of her stepchildren's lives have left Elizabeth dispirited. When she learns that she has breast cancer, her feelings about the futility of her life deepen, but she also sees the value in trying to meet her fate with dignity. Shot through with fatalism and told in reserved and beautiful prose, this authoritative novel conveys both the bleakness of the Irish civil servant's lot in the 1960s and the courage needed to face down frustration and despair.Joanne WilkinsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved