Ruth Swain is confined to bed upstairs in her childhood home, surrounded by her father’s extensive book collection. She is on a journey to read all of his books, while also discovering more about her father and his family history. This novel is Ruth’s way of documenting her personal journey. While she begins several generations earlier, the narrative is fluid and periodically shifts to present-day events, especially those pertaining to Ruth’s illness.

Ruth’s paternal line was made up of headstrong men, battling a legacy of unreasonably high standards but perpetuating those standards into the next generation. That is, except for Ruth’s father Virgil. Her story of Virgil’s early life, marriage to her mother Mary, and a father’s deep love for his family. But their lives are also ones of social awkwardness, economic hardship, and tragedy. Details unfold very slowly, often alluded to more than explicitly stated, generating an emotional tension that continues to build until its dramatic release and moving resolution.

This novel is meticulously crafted and beautifully written. Highly recommended. ( )

Nineteen year old Ruth Swain lies in her top floor bed dying of a blood disorder. As this is set in Faha in County Cork, Ireland, the rain comes incessantly down.

She is surrounded by thousands of volumes of books which her father, a not very successful poet, accumulated over the course of his life.

She contemplates her family history – how her grandfather acquired this 12 acre impossibly unsuccessful farmland in an attempt to impress his father – what the blurb on the back of the book calls the “ dogged pursuit of the Swains' Impossible Standard and forever falling just short”. Father and grandfather became obscessed salmon fisherman and the sport is also featured heavily.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found it slow and heavy. Death, rain, and never measuring up do not make a read to tackle if you are struggling within yourself as you read this. I could appreciate the lovely writing and characterizations. I will try another of Mr. Williams’ books, but can’t see myself rereading this one. 3.5 stars ( )

This mispronunciations are putting me off, not going to finish ( )

This is another beautifully written story by Niall Williams. The story is told from the point of view of a 19-year-old girl who is battling a life-threatening blood disorder. Ruth Swain lives in Faha, Ireland, and in this book she outlines the life and times of her own family as well as most of the people in the village. She does this while lying sick in her bed up in the attic room while listening to the rain drumming on the skylights and she is surrounded by 3,000+ books that she inherited from her father. What made the book so special besides the beautiful language and the empathy and sincerity on every page was the book titles that kept dropping into he book from Ruth's memory like the rain on the roof. Not only the titles, but the authors, publishers and the year the book was printed Not only has she read them all, but she remembers all the details from them. She starts her story as a way of bringing her father to life, and to also find a way to understand her literary, poetic father. Her stories begin in the past with her grandfather and grandmother, on towards her father and mother, and finally with Ruth and her twin brother Aeney. The story unfolds like a dream, and even though, at the beginning, it jumps back and forth between timeframes the continuity of the stories about the Swains remains intact. I really can't think of any author currently that writes with the heart and empathy and beautiful language that Niall Williams writes with. I think the closest comparison that I can come to is William Butler Yates. He too had this incredible skill which made all his work timeless. Ruth often refers to him throughout the book, and he was her father's favourite writer as well. This is a book to savour and enjoy and take your time with. I listened to it on audiobook, but most of my listening was done while sitting and listening only to this. I didn't want to miss a single word. Highly recommended. ( )