"In an Ireland far removed from the familiar images of travel brochures, a bright teenager is heading for trouble: son of a single mother who has given up, rarely at school, taking drugs, and hovering on the fringes of the city's criminal underworld. When he falls for Pat The Baker's sister his life changes irrevocably, not least because when she gets pregnant, Pat breaks his legs. But as he tries to make a new start and adjust to being a lover and father, he realises he cannot evade vengeance forever. ""This is the Country"" is a hard-hitting, tense and deeply moving novel that sets power and corruption against the fragile defences of love, friendship and family. As gritty as it is tender, as funny as it is dark, it tells a riveting tale of survival against the odds."
William Wall's three previous novels, ALICE FALLING, MINDING CHILDREN and THE MAP OF TENDERNESS, have all been published by Sceptre to critical acclaim. He is also an award winning poet and short story writer, and the author of several works of fiction for children, His work has appeared in The Irish Times, New Irish Writing and has been broadcast on radio on RTE. He is married with two children and lives in County Cork, Ireland.
Title: This is the Country
Author: Wall, William
ISBN: 9780340822159
Binding:
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publication Date: 2005-05-23
Number of Pages: 288
Weight: 0.4583 kg
'A terrific novel. In clean, precise language Wall lifts up the rug of stereotype and reveals an unseen side of his country through the story of a submerged soul trying to survive a world of bad drug deals, hired killings, and clandestine love. THIS IS THE COUNTRY stands out because it stares directly at the dark side of contemporary Ireland without looking away, or even blinking. In the parlance of the Irish, it's a mint piece of work. It deserves a place on the shelf alongside William Trevor and Edna O'Brien.' -- David Means '[Wall] is a powerful writer ... the prose style is punchy and accessible ... In THIS IS THE COUNTRY [Wall] has redefined a female icon, one you might have thought you knew - Mother Ireland. She is not pretty but she is utterly authentic.' -- Justine McCarthy, Irish Independent 'A genuine literary talent, with a poet's gift for apposite, wry observation, dialogue and chracter ...a masterful, ironic book of loss and bitter optimism, money and poverty, the impossible divide between city and country ... Wall has an admirable power of poignant description ...There are trenchant observations, worthy of Swift, on Irish society ... Wall's touch with characterisation is light and deft: many illustrate themselves plainly with just a few lines of dialogue' -- Guardian 'This tense and moving work sets the negative forces of power and corruption against the virtues of love and family. By turns gritty and tender, it is a triumph of survival against the odds.' -- The Good Book Guide
