Walk the Blue Fields

Claire Keegan’s tightly constructed short stories never cease to enthrall me. This collection poses no exception. Each story takes its own life. They do not take long to read, but oh, they take long to ponder! A couple of these stories are in other collections, but each one provided a treat at the end of a workday.My favorite in this anthology is the last story: “Night of the Quicken Trees.” It tells of two misanthropes who live next door to each other in Clare, Ireland. Each have their respective inner demons, but they uncork a strange form love with each other. They even reconcile themselves, in a small way, with their social world of their nearby town. Will their bliss last, or will their paranoia win out in the end? As always in Keegan’s writing, the narrative only resolves on the last page. Only the last paragraph brings every detail of the short story into harmony, and the characters become all too human.

Reading this is quite breathtaking. There is a melancholic mood tempered by “sweet” writing. Each story takes you in and away !!!!!

Her language & descriptions are amazing . Her narratives are relevant today as they were years ago . Love Clare’s style

I'm so looking forward to reading every thing this author has written.

Une prose précise, qui exprime si bien l'ambiance particulière de la campagne irlandaise, épouse parfaitement le déroulement magistral du récit. C'est ciselé et puissant à la fois.