Amongst Women

John McGahern · 1934–2006 · Ireland

Why it matters

Aging IRA veteran Michael Moran rules his farmhouse and daughters through fear, pride, and rare unbearable tenderness, refusing to accept how the world has moved past his war. McGahern's masterpiece renders Irish patriarchy from the inside, without a trace of caricature.

At a glance

Plain, controlled prose; the difficulty lies in its emotional restraint, not its sentences.