Poetic and epic, Maggie O’Farrell’s most recent novel, Land, initially transports readers to a peninsula on Ireland’s western shore. The title is used both as a verb and a noun.
In nearly 400 pages, the plot mostly follows the lives of Tomas, his wife Phina and their four children: Enda, Liam, Rosie and Eugene. O’Farrell’s narrative begins in 1865, but it does not follow a straightforward storyline.
Tomas is a surveyor charged with mapping Ireland. He has young Liam as his assistant, but things go awry when Tomas enters a copse. After he emerges his once-reticent personality undergoes a disturbing, manic transformation which has a profound impact on Liam, and ultimately the rest of his family
The strength of familial bonds, the heartbreakingly romantic descriptions of how Tomas and Phina met, the power of longstanding superstitions and the harsh beauty of the Irish landscape and other places where the family lives are vividly described.
The novel contains four parts, with the second explaining what was likely the cause of Tomas’s personality change. It’s set millennia before the time he enters the heavily-wooden, mysterious forest. It, like the rest of the story, is beautifully written. It has the spirit of a folktale and is crucial to the entire novel.
As the children grow, the focus is less on Tomas; each child emerges as a unique, sensitive individual. The passing of time, with its joys and sorrows, is richly portrayed. And the physical land is as much a character as those who live upon it.
Land
Four and a half bookmarks
381 pages
Alfred A. Knopf, 2026
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