‘Carmel had been alone all her life. The baby knew this. They looked at each other, and all of time was there. The baby knew how vast her mother’s loneliness had been.‘
– The Wren, The Wren
[ About The Wren, The Wren ]
Nell – funny, brave and so much loved – is a young woman with adventure on her mind. As she sets out into the world, she finds her family history hard to escape. For her mother, Carmel, Nell’s leaving home opens a space in her heart, where the turmoil of a lifetime begins to churn. And across the generations falls the long shadow of Carmel’s famous father, an Irish poet of beautiful words and brutal actions.
This is a meditation on love: spiritual, romantic, darkly sexual or genetic. A multigenerational novel that traces the inheritance not just of trauma but also of wonder, it is a testament to the glorious resilience of women in the face of promises false and true. Above all, it is an exploration of the love between mother and daughter – sometimes fierce, often painful, but always transcendent.
[ My Review ]
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright will publish August 31st with Jonathan Cape and is described as ‘a contemporary novel of daughterhood and motherhood, from the Booker Prize-winning Irish author.’
This is the story of the McDaragh family, set primarily in Dublin, as we are taken back across three generations and the ripple effect of one man’s choices. Phil McDaragh, a renowned poet, now dead, left his children, Carmel and Imelda bewildered and lost after he abandoned them, and their sick mother, in search of a new life. He was recognised as being ‘the finest love poet of his generation‘. Nell McDaragh is his grandchild and daughter of Carmel. Imelda stayed in the family home but Carmel left to get space and in need of self-discovery. Along her journey Carmel became pregnant and, with no forever partner on the horizon, she immersed herself in the role of single mother. Nell has grown up under her mother’s shadow, a mother who, at times, could be very argumentative and overbearing. Carmel always had a deep love for Nell but she has struggled with herself, carrying the scars of abandonment and frustration with her at all times.
Nell’s need for independence leaves Carmel in a strange space, one she is very much unprepared for. In alternate storylines, Nell and Carmel each go on a journey unravelling their past, their present, and recognising a different future.
The narrative takes the reader across timelines exploring the various relationships between the McDaragh generations, giving an insight into the many complex dynamics that have shaped the personalities of all involved. Interspersed throughout the novel are poems written by Phil, which do take a little adjustment to when reading through the chapters.
The Wren, The Wren is a book I have very mixed feelings about. I struggled with this novel, wondering if I was really able to appreciate it properly. It was reminiscent of Sally Rooney, with its streams of consciousness, but more challenging and obscure. There were some sections of pure beauty but other times I found myself skimming sections as I was, quite frankly, out of my depth. I was confused and compelled at the same time, leaving me perplexed and a little frustrated. The poetic voice of Phil McDaragh was a little jarring and I did find its appearance a little too regular, losing me my focus and interest in the lives of Carmel and Nell. Anne Enright is a celebrated writer and winner of numerous awards and it’s easy to see why with some wondrous descriptions throughout but I just couldn’t warm to the novel. Most certainly The Wren, The Wren will find a more appreciative audience but unfortunately I’m not one of them.
[ Bio ]
Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She has written two collections of stories, published together as Yesterday’s Weather, one book of non-fiction, Making Babies, and seven novels, including The Gathering, which won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, The Forgotten Waltz, which was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and The Green Road, which was the Bord Gáis Energy Novel of the Year and won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. In 2015 she was appointed as the first Laureate for Irish Fiction, and in 2018 she received the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature. She is also the recipient of the 2022 Irish Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
