The Gathering - Anne Enright

The Gathering received the 2007 Man Booker Prize. In general, I find the Booker winners extraordinarily written and incredibly boring. Enright is the first one in awhile to hold my attention. After the death of the closest of her nine siblings, Victoria gathers her family together for an Irish wake. In bringing her brother Liam's body home, Victoria is reminded of her childhood, growing up mostly unsupervised by a mother too distracted by her never-ending pregnancies. As she confronts the horror of a secret she stumbled upon as an unsuspecting 8-year old, she is forced to acknowledge the reasons for her brother's wayward life. This is a brutal portrayal of a family torn apart by neglect and abuse, though at times I felt Enright was too straight-forward about what was going on - as if she did not trust her readers to read between the lines. Not much happens in this book plot-wise, but as a character and family study, I found it thoroughly amazing.