Fiction Pick of the Week: Civil and Strange

Civil and Strange by Clair Ni Aonghusa 2008


Ever feel an urge to run away to an Irish village where life would be simpler? Clair Ni Aonghusa has written her first novel Civil and Strange set in the village of Ballindoon. Here we meet three characters: Ellen, a teacher from Dublin who returns to the village she visited in her childhood and finds love there with a younger man; Matt, her uncle, recently widowed and ready to relive his life with the road not taken; and Beatrice, a widow who has also lost a son and is not as willing to rewrite her history with Matt. Ellen finds life here not at all simple. Social relationships need to be civil to avoid isolation and strange to avoid gossip and judgment. This is a well-observed story that follows a year full of changes and possibilities. It left me feeling it was time well spent in an Irish village.