Colm Tóibín's second novel about an uncompromising judge whose principles, when brought home to his own family, are tragic.
Eamon Redmond is a judge in Ireland's high court, a completely legal creature who is just beginning to discover how painfully unconnected he is from other human beings. With effortless fluency, Colm Tóibín reconstructs the history of Eamon's relationships-with his father, his first "girl," his wife, and the children who barely know him-and he writes about Eamon's affection for the Irish coast with such painterly skill that the land itself becomes a character. The result is a novel of stunning power.
