Gathering (Enright)

The Gathering
Anne Enright, 2007
Grove/Atlantic
260 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780802170392


Summary 
Winner, 2007 Man Booker Prize

Anne Enright is a dazzling writer of international stature and one of Ireland’s most singular voices. Now she delivers The Gathering, a moving, evocative portrait of a large Irish family and a shot of fresh blood into the Irish literary tradition, combining the lyricism of the old with the shock of the new.

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him—something that happened in their grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968.

As Enright traces the line of betrayal and redemption through three generations her distinctive intelligence twists the world a fraction and gives it back to us in a new and unforgettable light. The Gathering is a daring, witty, and insightful family epic, clarified through Anne Enright’s unblinking eye. It is a novel about love and disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate. (From the publisher.)

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Author Bio 
• Birth—October 11, 1962
• Where—Dublin, Ireland
• Education—B.A., Trinity College (Dublin); M.A., University of
  East Anglia
• Awards—Rooney Prize, Irish Writing Award, Royal Society
  of Authors Encore Prize, Booker Prize
• Currently—lives in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Anne Enright is a Booker Prize-winning Irish author. She has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book and four novels. Before her novel The Gathering won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Enright had a low profile in Ireland and the United Kingdom, although her books were favourably reviewed and widely praised. Her writing explores themes such as family relationships, love and sex, Ireland's difficult past and its modern zeitgeist.

Enright won an international scholarship to Lester Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, where she studied for an International Baccalaureate for two years. She received an English and philosophy degree from Trinity College Dublin. She began writing in earnest when her family gave her an electric typewriter for her 21st birthday. She won a scholarship to the University of East Anglia's Creative Writing Course, where she was taught by Angela Carter and Malcolm Bradbury and earned an M.A.

Enright was a television producer and director for RTE in Dublin for six years. She was a producer for the ground-breaking RTE programme Nighthawks for four years. She then worked in children's programming for two years and wrote at the weekends. The Portable Virgin, a collection of her short stories, was published in 1991. The Portable Virgin won the 1991 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Enright began writing full-time in 1993.

Enright's first novel, The Wig My Father Wore, was published in 1995. The book explores themes such as love, motherhood, Roman Catholicism, and sex. The narrator of the novel is Grace, who lives in Dublin and works for a tacky game show. Her father wears a wig that cannot be spoken of in front of him. An angel called Stephen who committed suicide in 1934 and has come back to earth to guide lost souls moves into Grace's home and she falls in love with him.

Enright's next novel, What Are You Like? (2000), is about twin girls called Marie and Maria who are separated at birth and raised apart from each other in Dublin and London. It looks at tensions and ironies between family members. It was short-listed in the novel category of the Whitbread Awards.

The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch (2002) is a fictionalised account of the life of Eliza Lynch, an Irish woman who was the consort of Paraguayan president Francisco Solano López and became Paraguay's most powerful woman in the 19th century. Her book Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood (2004) is a collection of candid and humorous essays about childbirth and motherhood. Enright's fourth novel, The Gathering, was published in 2007, and The Forgotten Waltz in 2011.

Enright's writings have appeared in several magazines, including The New Yorker, Paris Review, Granta, London Review of Books, Dublin Review, and the Irish Times. She was once a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, and now reviews for the Guardian and RTE. The 4 October 2007 issue of the London Review of Books published her essay, "Disliking the McCanns", about Kate and Gerry McCann, the British parents of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances while on holiday in Portugal in May 2007. The essay was criticized by some journalists.

Enright won the Davy Byrne's Irish Writing Award for 2004. She also won the Royal Society of Authors Encore Prize.On 16 October 2007 Enright was awarded the Man Booker Prize, which included a cash award of £50,000, for The Gathering.

Enright lives in Bray, County Wicklow. She is married to Martin Murphy, who is director of the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire. They have two children. (Adapted from Wikipedia.)

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Book Reviews 
In a word: heavy. Or so you might think. But in this mystery of past causes, the transformative power of Enright's language keeps the story's freight from burdening the reader. Veronica's reminiscences have an incantatory power that makes them not depressing but enthralling—as evocative and unanswerable as the laments of the woman "wailing for her demon-lover" in "Kubla Khan," except that Veronica wails for her demon-brother…In this new novel…Enright hides her painterly brushstrokes. The Gathering still casts fiction's spell, but its detours from reality are surreal, not unreal: nothing happens that could not happen, that has not happened, to somebody. Bringing together the skills she has honed along the way, Enright carries off her illusions without props or dei ex machina, bravely engaging with the carnival horrors of everyday life.
Liesl Schillinger - New York Times

There is something livid and much that is stunning about The Gathering, which deservedly won this year's Man Booker Prize. Anger brushes off every page, a species of rage that aches to confront silence and speak truth at last. The book's narrative tone echoes Joan Didion's furious, cool grief, but the richest comparison may be with James Joyce's Dubliners.... Everything that happens and does not happen here feels painfully and awkwardly true, even the notes of redemption. Enright seems to know the bone structure of the Irish family during its turbulent silence of the 1960s and '70s, when elders were still treated with fearful deference and children were less important than they are now, perhaps because there were so many of them and the houses were so tiny.
Peter Behrens - Washington Post

In the taut latest from Enright (What Are You Like?), middle-aged Veronica Hegarty, the middle child in an Irish-Catholic family of nine, traces the aftermath of a tragedy that has claimed the life of rebellious elder brother Liam. As Veronica travels to London to bring Liam's body back to Dublin, her deep-seated resentment toward her overly passive mother and her dissatisfaction with her husband and children come to the fore. Tempers flare as the family assembles for Liam's wake, and a secret Veronica has concealed since childhood comes to light. Enright skillfully avoids sentimentality as she explores Veronica's past and her complicated relationship with Liam. She also bracingly imagines the life of Veronica's strong-willed grandmother, Ada. A melancholic love and rage bubbles just beneath the surface of this Dublin clan, and Enright explores it unflinchingly.
Publishers Weekly

It seems that large, extended families are brought together for two events, weddings and funerals, and such is the case in Enright's new novel (after The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch) when Veronica, her eight surviving siblings, and their mammy reconnect for her wayward brother Liam's funeral. As Veronica notes early on, "the seeds of my brother's death were sown many years ago," and it is those seeds, which are gradually unearthed as the book moves between past and present, describing the deconstruction of the family, that drove Liam to suicide. From a description of vodka with a "sweet and crotch-like" smell that includes a "waft of earth and adolescence" to souls that, if released, would "slop out over his teeth," Enright's writing is starkly descriptive, using the same coarse imagery that is part of her characters' daily lives. Much is raw in this novel, which is less about individuals than about people's "patience and ability to endure." While readers won't be drawn to the characters, anyone who perseveres will find a story of harsh redemption and of a future found in a child's blue eyes. An acquired taste.
Caroline M. Hallsworth - Library Journal

A lyrical meditation on memory and connectedness involving three generations of an Irish family. In her fourth novel (The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch, 2003, etc.), Enright seamlessly melds past and present, childhood and struggling maturity, death and earthy life, in Veronica Hegarty's looping account of her blood line. Her mother bore 12 children and suffered seven miscarriages, yet it is a single death, of Veronica's troubled older brother Liam, which pulls the narrative together. The discovery of his body in the sea at Brighton (an English resort town) with stones in his pockets triggers a kind of breakdown in Veronica. It ignites a long-brewing crisis in her marriage, and it releases a flood of memories: Liam visiting her after the birth of one of her two daughters; Liam on a childhood trip to the seaside via a visit to a relative in an insane asylum; Liam being sexually abused by Nugent, a friend of their grandparents, Ada and Charlie. Veronica's insomnia after the bereavement leads her to start writing a version of Ada's life, speculating on an affair between Ada and Nugent. Veronica's own sexual history plays a part too, as well as her hunger for "a larger life." Like Ali Smith, Enright is an original. Her poetic, often lovely phrasing and surprising perspectives create a distinctive mood, and her novel subtly links the Hegartys in a chain of damage, regret and finally continuity. A dreamy, melancholy swirl of a story, wise about the bonds and burdens linking children to each other and their grown selves.
Kirkus Reviews

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Discussion Questions 
1. At the very beginning of the novel, the narrator, Veronica, states that she is setting out to “bear witness to an uncertain event” from her childhood.  Begin your discussion of this novel by considering the nature of truth, and the ways in which it is possible or impossible to reach the truth in remembering stories from our childhood.  Do you think it is more important for Veronica to arrive at the truth or to uncover the stories and memories that might hold clues to her childhood?  How far do you think she succeeds in reaching an approximate truth?  Consider her statement “I do not know the truth, or I do not know how to tell the truth” (p. 2) – and discuss its implications.

2. In many ways she is disturbing the ghosts of the past as she sifts through her stories and “night thoughts” (p. 2).  Look at the ways in which these ghosts manifest themselves physically throughout the novel.  How does the ghost or presence of her brother, Liam, make itself felt, if at all?

3. The novel eloquently explores the landscape of grief and the ways in which a death inevitably brings up memories and questions about the past.  Talk about Veronica’s immediate responses to Liam’s death, and compare and contrast her mother’s reactions.  Discuss the responses of the various other siblings.  Why is Veronica irritated by her mother’s grief, and the fact that she has to go through the notions of comforting her?  What does she mean when she says “Who am I to touch, to handle, and discard, the stuff of a mother’s love?” (p. 11).

4. The mother is an overwhelming presence at the center of the novel, not by the force of her own character but more so by Veronica’s bitterness towards her.  Analyze the mother’s place in the novel, and talk about the level of Veronica’s anger toward her.  What will she not forgive her mother and why?  Discuss the possible reasons for her statement “the imponderable pain of my mother against which I have hardened my heart” (p. 185).  Does her opinion of her mother shift at all during the novel?  Does she ever feel a moment of love for her?

5. In light of the last question, consider the central role of forgiveness and guilt in the novel and the hold it has over the characters.  Analyze especially Veronica’s relationship with her brother Liam, and her belief in forgiving the dead.  Why do you think Liam made her feel guilty about her life with her husband and her daughters?  Talk about the effect of Liam’s death on her relationship with her husband, and with the life she has created for herself.

6. Compare Veronica’s upbringing with that of her own two daughters, and her parenting style with that of her mother.  Reflect upon the emptiness she feels in her life, the sadness it causes her, and how it will impact her daughters.  Are there instances in her own life that reflect her mother’s?  Consider the implications of Veronica’s worries about her children’s well-being and talk about whether over-parenting serves them better than the lack of parenting she received from her mother.

7. Consider the strength that Veronica exhibits during the period after Liam’s death.  At one point, she says, “I am all for sadness . . . but we fill up with it . . . until donk, we tilt into the drink” (p 175).  Indeed, at points she seems to be plunging down Liam’s path of drinking and despair, and yet she keeps herself from making the plunge.  Analyze the ways in which Liam has given into this despair, and the ways in which Veronica rails against it.  What are some of the sources from which she derives her strength?  Why was Liam unable to draw upon the same reserves in his battle with depression?  Do Veronica’s humor and irreverence have a place in the midst of such grief?

8. “I am the one who loved him most.”  Veronica repeats this line as she undertakes the practical duties of death (arranging for bringing Liam’s body home).  It seems that she considers her close relationship with Liam as a burden.  Are there other characters in the novel for whom love is a burden?  Talk about Uncle Val’s comment at Liam’s wake, “Ah well.  We did our best” (p. 203).  What realization does it bring to Veronica?  Discuss the responsibilities of filial and sibling love.

9. “There was great privacy in a big family . . . no one ever pitied you or loved you a little” (p. 164).  Analyze this interesting statement, and talk about how the Hegarty family’s character and, perhaps, destinies were shaped by the sheer number of children in the family.  On occasion, Veronica refers to the Hegartys as a group, a particular type who share certain characteristics – what are some of their traits?  She also considers them all as damaged (p. 222) – how far do you agree with her view?

10. Liam’s death serves as a catalyst for Veronica as she launches herself in pursuit of childhood memories, searching for the moment that set Liam off course in his life and steered him toward an early death.  She states “What is written for the future is written in the body” (p. 163).  What does she mean by this statement and how much do you agree?  Could she have done anything to avert his suicide?  To what extent do you think she has lived with guilt about Liam’s abuse since her childhood, or do you believe the memories have only resurfaced after his death?

11. Discuss the reasons why she begins to view her life with her husband and children in a new and unpalatable light?  Is her sudden change of heart valid?  How far do you sympathize with her?  What view do you begin to shape of her husband?  What are your feelings toward him?

12. Early on in the novel Veronica states, “There are so few people given us to love.”  What do you think she means by this and how is this opinion reflected in the narrative?  Certainly, the novel expressively touches upon and considers many different forms of love.  Expand upon the ways in which the Hegartys are bound together by love.  Look at the marriage of Veronica’s parents and find instances of love there as well as in the marriage of Ada and Charlie.  Consider the bonds between the siblings and the way they interact with each other as adults.  And what about the “easy, anxious love” a child feels for her grandfather?

13. The character of Ada seems to provide a key to Veronica’s – and Liam’s – past, and she is portrayed with far more detail than any other character.  What do we know for sure about Ada?  Analyze her relationship with her husband, Charlie, considering the statement “We do not always like the people we love” (p. 110).  How much of the relationship between Ada and Lamb Nugent is invented?  What do you understand of the relationship between Ada, Charlie, and Lamb?  What do you think we are supposed to surmise? At what point does Veronica realize that Lamb was her grandparent’s landlord and how does that change her view of events that took place that summer?

14. In a novel of “shifting stories and waking dreams” (p. 142) Veronica searches for the memory of her brother’s abuse, and tries to pinpoint her grandmother’s role in it.  Does she ever come to a true understanding of this?  Do her feelings for her grandmother change?  What about her mother’s place in all this?  Consider the childhood mantra, “Don’t tell mammy,” and talk about how much you think the mother knew.

15. Veronica says “Liam’s fate was written in his bones” (p.163).  Do you think she believes that Liam’s fate was set in motion that fateful summer?

16. Veronica seems to be searching for some sort of truth, a conclusion, but states at one point “The only things I am sure of are the things I never saw” (p. 62).  Again, on p. 91 she says that there is something “immoral about the mind’s eye.”  What truths has her internal journey brought her?  How has her journey into the past paralleled her journey to pick up Liam’s body and bring it back to Ireland for burial?  To whom does the question “What use is the truth to us now?” (p. 208) apply?

17. The physicality of the body is very much in evidence throughout the narrative.  Indeed, a corpse sets the novel in motion, and an act of physical abuse lies at its center.  Find examples of the weight of the body throughout the text: consider the death of Ada’s husband, Charlie, of Veronica seeing “the living with all their smells and holes” through Liam’s eyes (p. 76), her statement “I do not believe in my husband’s body anymore” (p. 73).  Discuss the place of sex in the novel as another aspect of the physical.  Is there a division of body and soul in the novel?

18.Male sexuality in particular is a contentious topic in this book. In some instances, as with Ada and Charlie, it is part of a romantic, nurturing union between two people; in others, it is a thing inflicted on one person by another.  Both types of sexuality—the constructive and the destructive—have a lasting effect on future generations.  Consider the female views of male sexuality presented in this book, and the ways in which men like Tom are forced to reckon with their “impulses and [their] actions, and the gap between the two” (p. 177).  How are these male characters affected when they let their desires govern their behavior? 

19. Religion runs seamlessly through the fabric of the narrative as a presence in the lives of the Hegarty children but not as an overwhelming influence.  Find instances where religion appears in the narrative and discuss its importance to the characters, and to the novel as a whole.  Talk about how The Gathering’s lack of emphasis on religion might fit into the tradition of Irish literature.

20. What do you think Veronica means when she says “Blasphemy seems to be my business here” (p. 59).

21. Consider the role of happiness in the novel.  Do you think that any of the characters have found contentment in their life?  Why do you think Veronica considered Ada and Charlie to be happy?  Given her memories of what happened at their house during her childhood, what does this say about her view of happiness?  Discuss the following statement “with the Hegartys a declaration of unhappiness is always a declaration of blame” (p. 210), and talk about what it means with regard to the Hegartys’ notion of happiness and unfairness in life.

22. In many ways Veronica has tried to escape the clutches of her childhood.    Pinpoint ways in which she has attempted this, and consider how successful she has been.  When she goes on her night drives to old childhood haunts were you surprised to find her still living so geographically close to her past?  Do you think she can ever really escape?

23. Veronica states that she feels “pawed, used, loved, and very lonely” (p. 244).  What have you learned about her over the course of the narrative that would explain why she feels this way?  What does she mean when she wishes that someone will “say, again, that everything will be all right?” (p. 244).

24. Why do you think that everyone, and especially Veronica, is entranced by the child Rowan?  What does he seem to represent?

25. At the end of the novel Veronica finds herself falling back into her life, hoping to return to her husband and daughters, and to reenter her own life.  What do you think the future holds for her?  Do you think she will be able to live in her life again as she wishes?  Has she grown during the narrative, and, if so, how?  Did you find her empathetic as a character?  As a narrator?  What do you hope for her future?
(Questions from the publisher.)

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