Wild Decembers — Edna O'Brien

In this “beautiful and lush novel,” the renowned Irish author “encapsulates the afflictions of a culture within the afflictions of a particular doomed family.” (The New York Times Book Review).

Wild Decembers charts the quick and critical demise of relations between Joseph Brennan and Mick Bugle -- “the warring sons of warring sons" -- in the countryside of Western Ireland. With her gift for describing the occasions of heartbreak, O'Brien elevates Joseph's love for his land to the level of his sister Breege's love for both him and his rival, Bugler.

Breege sees “the wrong of years and the recent wrongs” fuel each other as Bugler comes to claim recently inherited acreage on what her brother calls “my mountain.” A classic drama ensues, involving the full range of bonds and betrayals and leavened by the human comedy of which Edna O'Brien rarely loses sight.