On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry

I absolutely loved Barry’s earlier book The Secret Scripture, which I wrote about on this blog some time ago. This one is a good follow-up, the story of a young Irish political refugee who flees to America and lives a life dogged with tragedy. I find it interesting that she refers to the suffering her employer has endured during her life, although she never specifies it, but at the same time she seems not to recognize the truly hideous tragedy of her own life. She reminds me a bit of Bert Facey in A Fortunate Life. Lilly’s first husband is killed, the second deserts her, her son is lost to her and then her grandson kills himself – yet shining through all of this is her beautiful soul, her acceptance of the vagaries of life and her complete lack of self pity. Barry is a poet. He weaves words and phrases in such a melodic way I suspect him of being Irish himself – he may, be, I’ve never checked.