Annie’s story is a sequel, of
sorts, to A Long, Long Way. I,
however, did not make the connection to halfway through the story. So I won’t
spoil it and tell you what the connection is, you’ll have to read it to
discover it.
It’s 1959
in Kelsha, County Wicklow, Ireland. Annie has been relocated to the country
from Dublin, forced out of her home when her dead sister’s husband wanted to
remarry. Now she lives with her cousin, Sarah, in a small cottage on Sarah’s
small farm. The cottage is so small that the women must share a bed. Both are
in their sixties, I’m thinking late sixties, and have never married. The work
is back-breaking, but both are used to such labors. Annie considers Sarah long
in the face, while Annie is also plain and afflicted with a humpback as a
result of a childhood bout with polio.
Annie has
always been grateful for Sarah taking her in, and she’ll do anything not be on
the verge of homelessness again. When Annie’s nephew, Trevor, asks them to
watch his two children over the summer, Annie and Sarah agree. They aren’t used
to the chaos a six-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy bring to their quiet
lives, but both relish in playing mother.
Troubles
are brewing for Annie. First a there’s the scheming handyman, Billy Kerr, who
starts sniffing around Sarah. Annie is terrified that Sarah will marry him,
thus leaving her homeless once again.
Then Annie catches the children performing a bizarre, to Annie, sexual
act. She doesn’t know what to do or say about this and worries about it
constantly.
I found it
quite interesting that the scheming handyman Billy Kerr also has the same name
as Sarah’s donkey. Also, neither of the children’s names are ever
mentioned. The simply referred as the
boy and the girl.
Barry has a
gift for image and metaphor. The prose is compact and beautiful. I’ve been
telling my reader friends that Annie
Dunne is pure poetry. I give this book five out of five stars.
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