![]() As he had in times previous, Dennis helped Maeve through the years that followed, answering Billy's wee-hours phone calls and bringing him to bed whenever he'd passed out, even as Dennis's own wife sickened of cancer and died. Then, in Ireland in 1975, to take The Pledge after years of hard drinking, Billy learned the truth by chancing to meet Eva as he was on his way to visit her grave-and promptly took back his Pledge. Only his cousin and best friend Dennis, though, knew the whole story: Eva didn't die, but she did marry her Irish love-a fact he concealed from Billy for 30 years, not knowing that Billy would mourn what might have been for the rest of his life, even after he met and married the gentle, love-struck Maeve. But they also knew something of his pain, born from the long-ago death of his fiancÇ just before she was to come back to Brooklyn after a trip to Ireland. Everyone at the wake agreed that Billy Lynch was a fine man-when sober. ![]() ![]() McDermott (At Weddings and Wakes, 1992, etc.) extends her view of Irish-American life with this gentle portrait of an alcoholic freshly dead from drink, and of the family he leaves behind to reveal and remember. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |