I cried for Peter O'Brien and I cried when the pony died.

What more can you ask of a BOOK?

Ah, yes, the writing - exquisite, evocative, mysterious word songs, and earth-bound sentient.

Readers will want to read Christopher Nolan's first book, Under the Eye of the Clock,
if they want to learn how the author is even more amazing.

Yet, truly tiresome were both Brendan not staying with his fading Mother and
the endless refrain of long lost selfish Frankie.

(Unwelcome were the chickens tied at the legs and wishing for a really great book ending for Minnie.) ( )

Oh so difficult to read; there are sentences that simply did not make sense to me. However, it is a story of a woman that I'll not forget: Minnie Humphrey O'Brien, the only child of older parents in rural Ireland marries Peter O'Brien, a carpenter. Her life is simple but the complications of relationships are complex. Peter, the only love of her life, makes a simple living for Minnie and their three children: Brenden, Sheila, and Frankie, who comes late in life. Minnie is widowed early but finds that she can survive.

Brenden decides as a young man to become a priest so Minnie loses her oldest child to the church. Sheila studies to be a nurse and winds up married to a wealthy British man so she loses her daughter to another life style. Frankie simply leaves.

Minnie is the ultimate Irish mother (and reminded me in character of Annie Doyle - Sebastian Barry's book). Sacrifice is a way of life, her children and family are foremost as is the land. A neighbor, Jude Fortune, is the exact opposite of Minnie. Married into "some wealth" obtaining more wealth and land is her goal especially as she is widowed. Minnie is determined to keep her land for her son Frankie who she is sure will return some day to claim it.

The book is not an easy read but the character of Minnie and her children come through. It is sort of like finding pearls amidst lots of clutter. As a mother, I can relate to Minnie. The book almost seems set years ago, yet the ending is contemporary as we see Brenden become a bishop in New York City. The ending is somewhat a stretch, yet so believable as truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

I almost gave up on this due to the language, but glad I didn't as Minnie is a jewel. ( )

Nolan has been compared to Joyce and Dylan Thomas; while much more readable than Joyce, his use of language is fanciful and creative. This story of Minnie O’Brien, a widow in Ireland with three children she hasn’t seen in many years, is a wonderful tale of love and hope and trust and wonder. Flashbacks fill in the detail of Minnie and Peter’s early years together, and the alliteration and sheer poetry of Nolan’s prose provide a rich feast of words. For example-
“ … lines and lines of life, theming teeming traces, thin and Sibyline in greatness” … “Minnie dallied the days of dreadlocked design.” ( )

The life story of Minnie O'Brien is told with expressive and unusual language. Set in Ireland, the book's vivid descriptions make Minnie's farm come to life and creates unforgettable characters out of this old woman who talks to herself, her priest-turned-bishop son, her daughter stuck in an unloving marriage, and her son Frankie who left at 17 and has never come back. A book to savor. ( )