By Niall Williams
Big changes are coming to a quiet Irish village. Faha, in county Kerry, is one of the last outposts to be wired for electricity in the mid 1960s and young Noel ("Noe") Crowe is there to watch it happen. In this beautifully written novel, 17-year-old Noe, fresh from disillusionment as a seminary student in Dublin, is spending the spring and summer with his grandparents (Ganga and Doady), and he will be joined by Christy, a 60-something employee of the electric company, who is boarding with the Crowes, spending the nights under the thatched eaves with Noe. Noe and Christy, despite the disparity in age, form a close bond, exploring the area's night life, and Noe discovers that Christy has taken the job in Faha not just to earn a living, but because a woman he jilted years ago now lives in Faha, widow of the town's pharmacist, and he wants to earn her forgiveness.
As the endeavor plays out, the Fahaens live their lives as they have for centuries, most living off the land "on budgets thin as air". The church is still a big force in everyones' lives, as is rain, which had suddenly and unexpectedly stopped on Spy Wednesday (2 days before Good Friday), as the story opens.
On one occasion during this several days of sunny weather, Noe has joined the electric workers, installing poles around the district. When a pole falls on him, he ends up at the local surgery, awaking to see the doctor's beautiful young daughter Sophie keeping watch over him, and suddenly Noe - for the first time - is smitten. As he tries to "accidentally" run into Sophie, Christy is hoping his old love, Annie, will give him the time of day.
The story opens just before Easter weekend, and that's when I happened to read it, which perhaps made me feel closer to the story. I was in Ireland in 1970 (at the end of a junior semester abroad in Wroxton, England) and could feel the ambience of Ireland before the days of the Celtic tiger.
While the novel is fairly long (380 pp) and slow moving, it unfolds gently. The writing is simply exquisite and the love and respect for one another in the village is a beautiful testament to forgiveness, respect, and a former time.
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