Book Reviews
SNOW
BY JOHN BANVILLE / FABER & FABER $29.99
When Detective Inspector Strafford arrived at the scene of the crime, “He knew from the Chief’s tone that the makings of a cover-up were already being put in place”. It’s December 1957, and in the library of Ballyglass House, Wexford, home of the aristocratic Osborne family, lies the body of local Catholic priest, Father Tom Lawless. He has been brutally murdered, and castrated. Over the next few cold claustrophobic days, while Strafford patiently endeavours to track down the murderer, he has to cope with the dark undercurrents of 1950s Irish rural society while delving in to a pit of family secrets. Bluff Colonel Osborne is almost bankrupt, his young, second wife, Sylvia is skittish, mentally ill and possibly addicted to morphine, while his coquettish daughter, Lettie, and son Dominic, detest their step-mother. Adding to this mix of interesting characters are Doctor Hafner, who regularly visits Sylvia to treat her nerves, the long-serving dour housekeeper, Mrs. Duffy, and the feral stable-boy, Fonsey. The inexplicable disappearance of Strafford’s irritating Sergeant Jenkins, adds to his unease and confusion in the snow blanketed, remote, Wexford countryside. In previous novels, Banville specialized in ‘odd-duck’ characters and in Snow, Strafford is no exception. Christened by his parents ‘St John’, Strafford is an earnest, troubled, introspective, young detective who doesn’t “look much like a policeman” but who nevertheless has attained his high ranking Garda position despite being a Protestant and a non-drinker. Thanks to Banville’s rich, lush, layered prose, this is something more than a formulaic ‘who dunnit?’ With his perceptive characterizations, creation of atmosphere and sly observations, Snow is a literary gem, and I look forward to meeting Strafford again in future Banville novels. - Reviewed by John Hagan 78 | THE IRISH SCENE
OLD IRELAND IN COLOUR
BY JOHN BRESLIN & SARAH-ANNE BUCKLEY / MERRION PRESS $60.57 (FREE POSTAGE FROM THE BOOK DEPOSITORY UK)
This An Post Irish Book Award Winner had its genesis in 2019 when John Breslin developed an interest in colouring his old black and white family photographs. Soon, he widened his scope to include photographs of Galway and Connemara and then to others taken nationally during the 19th and 20th century. With the help of cutting-edge American software he was able to automatically colour black and white images in a matter of seconds. To ensure the photographs reflect the reality of the situation his colleague, Buckley, researched things like eye and hair colour and the exact hue of military uniforms. But, as Breslin admits, “These things will never be 100% correct. We are trying to get the best guess for a lot of the colours”. Diligence in this respect is best displayed in the array of portraits such as those of Tom Crean, Oscar Wilde and James Joyce. The 173 captivating photographs in this book, which span the period from just before the Great Famine (1845-52) until the outbreak of ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, feature chapters covering the Irish Revolution, Ireland’s social and cultural history, the Irish abroad, landscapes and streetscapes. Within each theme, photos are displayed in chronological order over the 125 year period chosen. Each photograph has been meticulously researched, with NUI Galway history lecturer, Buckley, adding cogent commentary on the circumstances in which it was taken. There is certainly much to admire and learn from this book and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey back
