In October the Irish Book group read novels and short stories of the Irish author William Trevor. We obtained many of his works through the Hamilton City library.

William Trevor is a pseudonym made up of the authors first two names, his full name being William Trevor Cox, who was born May 24, 1928, Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland and died November 20, 2016, Somerset, England. He was a prolific and acclaimed writer and said that he wrote everyday. Further details of his life can be found by clicking on this link: https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Trevor

Lists of his novels, short stories and many awards is found on this link as are his many awards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Trevor

As with each meeting, we had each independently selected novels and stories by the author to read. Collectively, we had read the following (if you click on the links you will be taken to a summary and review of each work):

The Children of Dynmouth (1976) Review and Youtube movie of the book
Fools of Fortune (1983) Master Class; Film of the book on Youtube; Review
Felicia’s Journey (1994) Review; Film of the book on Youtube
The Story of Lucy Gault (2002): Readers’ guide ; Review
Love and Summer (2009) Review; Readers’ guide.
Last Stories (2018) Review; Review

Our discussions ranged over a number of themes and here are some of them. Most of us had never read any of his work and found his books and short stories well written and easy to read. There are great stories to be found.

Given that Trevor was born in Ireland, some stories are set in the civil war / War of Independence in Ireland in the 1920s and anti-English violence, and with reference to Ireland in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries with the Flight of the Geese and the White Boys. There is also reference to the Northern Ireland ‘troubles’ in the mid-20th century.

He was an excellent story teller who has drawn on his own imagination and observation. His reading of life and the human condition is of top quality. His short stories often start his reader being presented with an event- an accident in the street, a deth, a funeral, a chance meeting, an abandonment- that will widen into a situation between two or more characters. His characters are often on the fringes of society, often isolated or abandoned women. The characters rarely choose what happens to them; life chooses for them.

He excelled in the details and depth of the characters, helping us to understand other people’s reactions and motives. It has been said that he puts us in the headspace of his characters. Often, his characters are reticient in expressing their thoughts and emotions, unspoken words. But the emotional undercurrent of the characters’ lives is what Trevor excels in writing about – sadness, grief, tradegy, broken hearts, turmoil, lost love, failure, regret, troubling relationships, loneliness and melancholy. In some novels there is darkness, horror, evil, the macabre, murder and abuse which make for difficult reading at times. But there are also strong themes of foregiveness, loyalty, and calmness and solitude on the part of the older characters as they embrace acceptance and a simpler life.

We enjoyed this Irish author and absolutely recommend his books.

Beverley Bell 2020