Derrycloney

Derrycloney by Phelan, Tom. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780863222535.

In Derrycloney, his third novel, Tom Phelan captures the voices and characters of a small community in the Irish countryside in the 1940s. The rural rituals, the local rivalries, the affections and disaffections - all are caught in richly textured language, in a progression of solo voices which build into an almost choral work. At the heart of this humorous novel lies Derrycloney Lane, where Kate Glanvil tries to keep the peace, while Lizzie Burns plots to steal her dead brothers farm. Missus Brady, who imitates the cries of boiling lobsters, protects the defenceless Benny Cosgrave. Young Liam Glanvil visits the swans at the lake, hearing the music of Saint-Saens, and writes letters to a nun. Meanwhile, Crip Quigley pines for his dead mother, and Billy Bates listens to the trains on a deserted railway bridge at night and dreams about Miss Hippwell.